Being Presidential in Grief

It's President's day and it appears half the world is taking it as a holiday, since no one I need to speak to is answering their phone or their e-mail today.

So instead, I think about past Presidents and wonder about the influence their decisions had on our country and if their vision would match where we are today?

I know there are many wonderful advances that have happened for us since their passing- transportation, technology and just the many nice extras we have now are things to be grateful for, but I can't help wondering about some of the basic rights they fought for and how we grieve them?

I'm thinking of the basics of respect and integrity, in particular. It seems like the news is filled with stories of how those two qualities are not being lived up to in business and entertainment. It makes me feel old; to think that those basic tenents of life could be so overlooked by today's generation. I hope that I am wrong and know that I am whenever I observe a young child saying "thank you" or a stranger still willing to hold the door open for me in a store.

Still, there is more we can do to assure these qualities get passed on to the next generation. And the most simple action of all is to just 'be' them. To live in integriy every day. To respect others and our differences every day.

It's a tall order, but I am up to the challenge. Are you?