JohnA: Celebrating Abraham Lincoln

JohnA: I discovered something rather interesting today. I’ve always been a big fan of Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday of course is today. I remembered that he was 56 when he died (my age) but it wasn’t until I did the calculation that I found that I am today exactly the same age as Lincoln was the day he was assassinated (April 15, 1865, when he had lived 20,516 days). So, I’m the age exactly as he was when he died, and it just happens to be on his birthday. How’s that for irony? It’s also humbling to think of all he achieved in his rather short life. He may be a little ahead of me, somewhat, at this point. :) (AP file photo of an actor portraying Abraham Lincoln)

Question: I grew up observing Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday 10 days apart in February (Lincoln, on 12th, and Washington, on 22nd). Have we lost something by lumping all the presidents together in a general observance called Presidents Day?