When my husband’s 80-year-old grandparents announced they were
flying from Abilene, Texas to visit us in Albany, I started racking my brain
for what they might be interested in seeing while they were here. When I came across the information about FDR’s
Presidential Library and Museum in Poughkeepsie, my husband and I knew they
would love it.
I have to admit, my first memories of the image of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt weren’t from a classroom or a history book. I will never be able to get out of my head
the scene in Annie when FDR and
Little Orphan Annie sing “Tomorrow” together…I loved that movie so much I was
Annie for Halloween three years in a row and I named my cat (our family didn’t
do dogs) Sandy!
With 13 Presidential Libraries across the country, Brett and I’ve
knocked three off the list with this visit.
We learned on our tour that FDR was the one who started the whole idea
of Presidential Libraries in the first place.
He decided Presidential papers were an important part of the national
heritage and should be accessible to the public. His library in Hyde Park sits close to his
home near the Hudson River.
Brett, Peggy & Don at Franklin’s house
As a kid, I grew up thinking FDR was Teddy’s cousin, the guy in
the wheelchair and a great singer (the whole Annie perception). I really
didn’t remember that he was a New Yorker and a former governor of the
state. We learned that he was the first
president to speak on television, the first president to have his own
presidential aircraft and the first president whose mother was allowed to vote
for him! Although he was buried in the backyard
(always reminds me of Elvis at Graceland) it was a beautiful property with a
rich history. His museum was filled with tons of cool stuff like his Oval Office desk, but then they had a huge lock of his hair that his mom had saved from his childhood that was just creepy!
My husband is notoriously a slow and methodical reader when it
comes to places like this. He reads
EVERYTHING! I can finish looking at an
entire museum and he will still be on the first exhibit. It didn’t take long for me to figure out
which side of the family that trait came from!
The Garrett Grandparents loved the FDR library and no one even noticed
that I hummed “Tomorrow” in the car all the way home.
