my trip to DC

DEAR FRIENDS,

Last week we were in Washington dc, thats right, the nations capital. i was there to attend the annual meeting of the national education association - nea, and gilbert, martha and rosa, my sister in law, came along for the ride. even though i was there on business, im an elected delegate, we still had plenty of opportunity to see the many sights of this great city and area. we also took a one day trip to mt. vernon, the ancestral home of george and martha washington, and their slaves(had to put that in there). they are both entombed there and i got to stand not two feet from his tomb. i could have reached out and touched the tomb but im sure the ever present guard would not have appreciated that. Back in dc we got a chance to see some of the many museums - the smithsonium, and the memorials. i was really moved by the lincoln memorial, no doubt due to the many books ive read about him and his role in the civil war and in defining what kind of country we would become (freedom for all?). We walked by the ford theater, where he was shot, just across the street from where he died. i often wonder what if he had lived? would he have been able to have finished the job of creating one nation with freedom for all? would there have been a martin luther king? would we have had the chaos of the sixties? what do you think?we took some great pictures and i hope to post some of them here on this cite if i can figure out how to do that. i was worried about the plane ride - sitting in one position for x number of hours, but i worried for nothing, the trip was fine, i got up to walk to the restroom about once per hour.