January 30, 1861 (Wednesday)

"She encountered a small motherless boy
and helped him to become Abraham Lincoln."
----Ted Widmer

Sarah Bush Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's (Mama)

Today, Abraham Lincoln began a trip to visit his other mother, Sarah Lincoln, near Charleston, Illinois.  There is a delightful, moving, and fascinating story of this trip and Lincoln's relationship with his "other" mother written by Ted Widmer of the New York Times, January 29, 2011 entitled, Lincoln's Other Mother.  I highly recommend you go to the link and read the narrative...it is full of anecdotes about Lincoln and his relationship with Sarah Lincoln.  I have included a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite. 

"Lincoln spent the night of the 30th in Charleston, and the next morning began the final phase of his journey, to reach the secluded farmhouse where he found a 72-year-old woman, his father's widow, Sarah Bush Lincoln.

It was quite a reunion.  Local folk remembered it for decades.  Word got out quickly to neighboring farms, and families came over to celebrate, bringing turkey, chicken, and pie.  The local school released the children for the day, and Lincoln laughed with them (he told them he'd rather be in their place than his.)  Some of them walked on his shoes, to feel what it must be like to be president. 

There are several versions of their final goodbye, which each probably knew would be their last.  Like him, she was haunted by visions of the future.  A letter written by one of her kinsmen recorded the scene, complete with grammatical inexactitudes:  'She embraced him when they parted and said she would never be permitted to see him again that she felt his enemies would assassinate him.  He replied no no Mama (he always called her Mama) they will not do that.  Trust in the Lord and all will be well.  We will see each other again.'  They did not. 

Measured by the usual yardsticks of wealth and distinction, her own life may not have made much of a dent in the historical record.  But at just the right moment, she encountered a small motherless boy, and helped him to become Abraham Lincoln"   ----much more at the link above.

(Read at the link above about Sarah's influence

on Abraham Lincoln as a growing boy.)

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Another link from inside the narrative above leads us to the artist, Maira Kalman's depiction of Abraham Lincoln, written in the New York Times, February 26, 2009 entitled In Love With A. Lincoln.     I recommend this narrative of prose, poetry, and art on the life of Abraham Lincoln.  Enjoy....