President Abraham Lincoln and his Smile (or lack of)
Having grown up in Springfield, Illinois, and the area around it, I am no stranger to all things Abraham Lincoln. Just walking distance from my childhood home lived a kind, older gentleman named “Mr. Brunk” who my friends and I loved to visit. He would share stories his parents would tell him about how Lincoln would stop and stay in the bed upstairs on his trips to and from Springfield. He would take us up to the room and let us lay “right where Lincoln slept”. It was thrilling to imagine and truly made Abraham Lincoln more real to me. The home was built in 1829 and had been in the Brunk family until it sadly burnt down a few years ago. Every school year, it was a field trip to Lincoln’s home, Lincoln’s New Salem, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and of course the poignant and moving tour of Abraham Lincoln’s final resting place in Oak Ridge Cemetery. I was certainly influenced as a child to be curious about all things Hon...