A Madison Yankee

08.14.10 Grand opening celebration of
the new Madison Children's Museum

Last week my family was honored with a presentation about the history of Madison’s Block 99. This triangle of land is the location of the much anticipated new Madison Children’s Museum as well as the location of my Great Great Grandparents’ home and the location of the first Jackson Clinic.
As I learn about the generations that walked on the same Madison streets I walk today, I have been wondering what those family members would think about my life in Madison today. I truly celebrate this Independence Day. I am grateful to be a single, property owning, childless, petless, career woman free from so many obstacles that were faced by those before me.
I have been thinking a lot about sense of place and what home means to me. In a treasured account of the Jackson family’s time on Block 99, two of my Great Aunts wrote about holiday celebrations and shared the insight below. The father that is reference is my Great Great Grandfather.
“On the Fourth of July the father, pretending to be still an Englishman, always grumbled loudly that it was an insult for a Britisher to have to hand out hard-earned cash to buy fireworks for Yankees to celebrate their independence; and forthwith distributed nickels, dimes, and quarters. Though a loyal American citizen, he never lost his love for the land of his birth, and the least unfavorable criticism of England quickly brought him to her defense.”
This Yankee purchased her sparklers and snap pops without a grumble, rather with gratitude for those that came before me and afforded me the opportunities and freedom that I have today.