A Trip to Springfield ILLinois

I realize now that I fortunately got selected as a chaperone for my son’s trip to Springfield Illinois the state capitol with his fifth grade class. How many times have I perceived an event as a chore only to be completely blown away by the opportunity to experience sometime that was by all standards totally awesome? I had no idea I would be so impressed by the sights in Springfield. We stated with a tour of the state museum that has built the exhibit around the changes of the world from the beginning to now and how some change is gradual while others like volcanoes, earthquakes and glaciers may result in significant changes in a short period of time. The museum has done a fantastic job of looking back millions of years, and what changes have resulted in the world as we know it. I believe the kids with me were most impressed by the visuals of humans that evolved from a life style of having little and making most of their everyday needs by hand that we take for granted and  run over to Wal-Mart and buy today. We left there to go visit the state capital to see where the government for the state resides and makes the laws that formulate the environment we experience as citizen of the state of Illinois and the United States. There was quite a bit of excitement since there was a demonstration taking place by union members that had decided to take their issues to the law makers. Even with all that we were able to have a short tour of the building and found out impressive things like it was actually taller than the Capitol in Washington DC and the beauty and history was fascinating considering it took 20 years to build from start to finish. The house was actually in session but due to our schedule we were not able to say and hear it called to order to begin addressing the agenda of business they were to cover. We had to leave before they recognized the students so we could have lunch before our next stop at the tomb of Lincoln. The structure was incredible with a pinnacle pointing to the heavens, a stature of President Abraham Lincoln in the center with statues of the four branches of the military of that time surrounding the upper base of the tomb. There was a great deal of instruction prior to us entering so that the tomb and our past president were given the upmost respect. The entrance of the tomb had a large bronze head of the president that over the years had acquire a reputation of being those who rubbed its nose good luck. We were not allowed to do this until after the tour of the tomb but you can be sure almost everyone in our group rubbed the nose before getting on the bus. As we entered the tomb we were greeted with the many more impressive statues and other items that gave you a feeling of pride of our county and the influence of one very special man of courage and honor that held it together at a time that it could have easily slipped away. We learned of the construction of the tomb and that clearly no expense was spared to honor this man for his dedication and sacrifice to this county. The tour shared that he had four children during his life and three out of four died at very young ages. It was with a sense of awe that I toured the tomb and then after leaving there touring the World War II, Vietnam and Korea war memorials. If all of this was not enough our next stop was the Lincoln Museum that covered every area of his life from the log cabin self learning to read to becoming the 16^th President of the United States and moving into the white when the United States was being destroyed by civil war whereas over 1.3 million American died to ultimately end slavery and keep this as the United States of American. We finished up the day before heading home to Schaumburg, Illinois with a feast at a buffet restaurant and comfortable tour bus movies included ride home. All I can say is thank God for men like Lincoln who were willing to put everything on the line to keep the country United, Strong and free…God Bless