A Charitable Escape.

Two feel good stories for the day:

They could have escaped and didn't:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/06/two_inmates_who_rescued_strick.html

When I read articles like the following one, my heart glows because I know long after I leave this world I will leave it in good hands:

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/06/top_portland-area_high_school.html

Have you ever wanted to escape but doing the right thing held you back? I know there have been many times in my caregiving of Mom and dad that I wanted to pack up, get on the road and take off. Escape. But I didn't, I did the right thing and stayed. What about right now if money wasn't an object where would you like to escape to? My choice would be the weather of the LA area or the charm of Ashland or after attending a recent movie the beauty of Italy.

Charity is always a favorite subject of mine. I really respect the high school students in the second article. Right out of high school going where their heart tells then to go instead of having the dollar lead their ambitions. We have had the talk before about what you would do if you won the lottery but I've never really asked what your favorite charities were. Mine would be anything dementia related, anything to do with abused women or children, cancer research, education of poverty stricken children, and the arts (writing, music, painting, etc.)

Hope you get a little escapism today!

WHO AM I?

Yesterday's Who Am I was Anne Sullivan.

I was born in 1768 to a New York merchant. I was a combination of Belgian and Dutch. Although the birth order remains unknown I had three sisiters and one brother. I had to stretch to be five foot tall, had black hair and blue eyes. I was raised in the Dutch Reformed Church but married in a Episcopalian service. My paternal grandmother who owned and managed her own vast real estate holdings in old Harlem raised me. Although my education wasn't documented it was probably considered important enough to provide me with something of a formal education; in light of my ease with life in France and Spain, I was likely instructed in French and Latin as well as the traditional "social graces" for young women of my class in literature, music, dancing and sewing. There is no documentation of my life previous to marriage but considering my family's wealth and social status it was likely as a young woman that I was part of New York City's elite circles. It is unlikely I was socially prominent once the American Revolution had begun, since my father was a Loyalist officer. I married at 17 to a Lieutenant Colonel during American Revolution who later became a U.S. Congressman from Virginia. Upon his retirement from Congress we returned to his native state where he practiced law. We had two daughters and one son. When husband was named U.S. Minister to France we relocated to Paris. During the last days of the French Revolution I made a name for myself by a courageous visit to Adrienne de Noiolles de Lafayette, the imprisoned wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. Not wishing to offend the U.S. the French government used my unofficial interest in Adrienne de Lafayette to release her. My husband would eventually serve a six year term as Secretary of State meaning we had to live in D.C. I was not known to play any role during my husband's campaigns for the head honcho. Back then the winner of elections were decided by members of Congress as electors. Despite being the main lady of the land for eight years there is little primary material about me during that time. No correspondence by me to my husband or our family or the general public. If there was it didn't survive. The few documents in which my name appears relate almost exclusively to legal, financial and property matters. The most frequent commentary of me related to my physical appearance. I looked youthful and contemporary accounts, supported by the material evidence, detail the regal costumes and jewelry I wore at public occasions. I didn't do social which kind of ticked off a lot of people but some people say my lack of be social was because I suffered from epilepsy. My oldest daughter married the man that prosecuted Aaron Burr. My husband is said to have burned all of my papers after my death. I did form enough of a close relationship with the popular hero of the Battle of New Orleans, to always be mentioned in his presidential letters. Due to my health we stayed in the famous house three weeks after we were voted out. I died in 1830. Who Am I?