I was in grammar school, as it was called when I was a child in the 1930’s. I especially remember when the month of February finally rolled around. After entering school, I quickly became aware of special holidays. We had been studying about Abraham Lincoln whose birthday would be celebrated on the 12th.
He was our twelfth President. We learned how he lived as a boy. He lived in a log cabin and studied by candlelight and the light of the fireplace when he was a boy. I really liked to hear and read the stories of the hardships he and his family experienced, and even though poor, he had taught himself to read and educated himself to become a lawyer and later President of the United States. We also learned that he was not well liked in the South because of the Civil War. Since most of us were sort of poor, learning about his life inspired us to try harder at school and to read more so we would grow up to be someone famous, too.
The other February president we learned of in first grade was George Washington who was born on February 22nd. He was our very first President. A large picture of him hung on the wall at the front of our classroom. He seemed to be watching each one of us no matter where we sat. His birthday was also a school holiday, not like today when their two birthdays are combined to a weekend called Presidents’ Day. We didn’t have to wait until the weekend to celebrate Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays together like what happens today.
We read stories about how honest George Washington was and about the time he chopped down a cherry tree with his axe. When his father found out and asked if he had done this, George said, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it!” I thought that was a pretty neat story and especially brave of him, for he must have been in big trouble. I would never have chopped it down in the first place, but I might have been really scared to tell the truth if it were me. Of course, historians have ruined it all now by saying it wasn’t so! I expect children today might have trouble finding out how really bad it is to tell a lie, without that story, since they don’t have young George to look up to as an example, at least about telling a lie. But he grew up to be President and was the Father of our country. Well, of course he did many good things before becoming President, like being a general and fighting in the Revolutionary War, even standing up in a boat to cross the Delaware River in winter. He nearly froze to death that winter. I had seen the painting and thought that was a pretty dangerous thing to do, standing up in a small boat. But soon, because he was so brave in the Revolutionary War, he was elected to be the first President of our brand new country. No one will ever forget him.
February was the very best month for me, too. And it still is! That is, not counting December. What could be better than Christmas? Not counting October either with Halloween coming on the very last day of the month when it is such fun to dress up in costumes and masks. But otherwise, February still comes first for me, even ahead of Thanksgiving. Can you guess whose birthday falls right in between those two famous Presidents’ birthdays? Mine! Along with cherry pie and angel food birthday cake decorated with red, white and blue candles with a tiny American flag in the center in our honor, that alone is enough to make February my favorite month!
Now as if there weren’t reason enough already to celebrate, along comes Valentine’s Day, smack dab in the middle of February on the 14th! What is more fun than making valentines and sending them to friends? Even more exciting is getting valentines in return! Red construction paper and paper lace doilies, along with scissors and paste soon covered our desks. We cut out hearts in various sizes and decorated our valentines making beautiful designs with short messages to give to our friends, classmates, and our teachers. Of course, I made very special ones for each member of my family.
At school we helped our teacher decorate a big paper box with a lid, in which she cut a long slot, wide enough to stuff our valentines. Room mothers usually sent some homemade valentine cookies and small candy hearts with funny messages printed on them. The big moment came when it was time to pass valentines out. No one was forgotten. Some had special notes on them from best friends. Sometimes some weird boy would write something smart-alecky, but I remember it was really exciting if a certain boy named Clarence wrote on mine.
Don’t you agree that February is one of the nicest months of the year?
