When I was 9, my 5-year-old kid brother convinced me that the craters
of the moon formed the face of
Abe Lincoln. I didn't believe him
at first, but he seemed so sure. To children,
Lincoln certainly
comes across as a demigod, beardedly sitting on that throne and
austerely bestowing freedom. That night my kid brother summed up
just how much "cents" I had. He probably could've had a field day
pointing out all sorts of imaginary constellations, such as the
heavenly chariot of the divine
Abraham (I would have fallen for that
one right away, because I always thought the
Lincoln Memorial on the
back of the penny was a
trolley car). But I couldn't for the life
of me follow the line of my brother's finger all the way to the
heavens. I didn't realize then that all constellations are
made-up, formed by those who can picture the puzzles of life and
convince others to connect the dots.
Reader Comments:
Jonathan wrote,
I was obsessed with A. Lincoln when I
was in third grade. I somehow got the idea that I was supposed to
have a favorite president. I
chose Lincoln because of the Emancipation, and then went "all-out" in
the same compulsive way I embraced my faves The Partridge Family.
Highlights of this bizarre behavior included an essay for school in
which I said they should rename "I Love Lucy" as "I Love Lincoln."
