"And You Said He Was DEAD!"

This is my entry for the My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge #24. You had to do a layout using any MME product. I just looked at their blog entry and noticed that mine isn't all that different from other layouts. Oh well, at least I finally got this Disney memory scrapped and that's what matters! AND, this is also for Disney Challenge #6 on the Disney Scrappers Forum.

Here is the story that is on the hidden journaling tag behind the picture:

When I was 5 or 6, back in the early 70's, I saw a program on TV. Don't know the name or even the storyline, just that I was enthralled with President Lincoln. I told my parents how much I loved him and was so very glad he was our president. It took some convincing on their part, but they finally got me to understand that he was our president a looooooong time ago, before I was born and even before they were born, and that he wasn't alive anymore. As you can imagine, this was hard for me to believe since I had just seen him alive and well on TV, but I eventually accepted the sad, horrible truth that President Lincoln was indeed no longer our president and that sadly, he was dead. He remained my favorite president though, and one of my favorite songs became the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." I could belt that song out with the best of them!

Not long after, Mom and Dad decided to take us to Disneyland. Of course, one of our stops had to be at the Disneyland Opera House to see the Walt Disney Story and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I had no idea what we were about to see, so I blindly followed my parents into the auditorium and waited for the show. As soon as the announcement was made...."And now ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to spend a few great moments with Mr. Lincoln...." and the curtain started to rise, I was enthralled! It was my hero, standing there, in the flesh, speaking to us! I listened with rapt attention (quite a feat for a 5 or 6 year old) until the very end, when he had finished his speech, and the notes of my favorite song started to rise. It was just too much for me. I stood up on my seat, put my hands on my hips, looked disdainfully down at my parents and yelled over the music, "AND YOU SAID HE WAS DEAD!" And then I promptly started singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the top of my lungs along with the choir.

I don't claim that I was an easy child to raise, that's for sure! But if nothing else, I was enthusiastic and patriotic! I kind of think, that if Walt had been around, and had wandered in to the Opera House during that performance, that he might have been slightly amused, but that he would have loved my reaction. His Lincoln animatronic convinced me that President Lincoln was talking to us! It was truly a GREAT moment with Mr. Lincoln for me! So thank you Walt! Your admiration for our favorite president is just one more thing I appreciate about you.