John Tyler and Me
Monday, November 5th, 2007
The name John Tyler doesn’t typically evoke images of the greatest of our American Presidents, but his Presidency was unique in at least one way: he was the first President ever to assume the title following the death of an incumbant. And from what I’ve learned, it wasn’t a job that was easily ascended to. William Henry Harrison (remember Tippecanoe and Tyler Too – the slogan for the Harrison/Tyler ticket?) died just 31 days into his term, leaving the country without a President for the first time ever. Whig leader Henry Clay hoped to run the government and leave Tyler (who was living in Virginia at the time) as a ‘figurehead’ President only. Tyler would have none of that, and thus established the traditional succession of Presidents when he became our country’s tenth from 1841-1845, serving for nearly an entire term. Read the rest of this entry »
It was early in 1986 when I first began to feel that I was somehow emerging from the cocoon of the awkward age. The pre-teen fat seemed to be melting off as I began to sprout upwards slightly. There was still some geekiness about me (as there always will be I suppose), but as far as my appearance goes, I didn’t feel completely alienated any longer. Another huge change at home was that Dad moved back into the house within a few months after the New Year. I think that being together with his family for the holidays inspired him to make the effort to reconcile. 
We were a bit sluggish on the morning of Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Afterall we had just completed a full journey around The Magic Kingdom the day before. Besides, Denise was feeling crummy. Or maybe I should say crummier. She had had some stomach violations since the start of the trip, but this day appeared to be the worst. Trooper that she was, she pressed on and rode all of the rides during this vomitous affair. Even with all of this in mind, we were able to board our bus at the resort, make the trip there, and get into the park’s front gates by 9:30am.