Mother’s Day

Linda Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas – The Arkansas River was brilliant blue today, just like the after-Thanksgiving skies. This may be dubbed Black Friday by storekeepers, but I’m calling it Mother’s Day. Because today is my mother’s birthday – Winnie Ivous Sizemore Burton (1914-2003) – and because I visited the William J Clinton Presidential Center today and caught a special exhibit about two mothers named Dorothy Howell Rodham (1919-2011) and Virginia Clinton Kelley (1923-1994). The Center is an imposing glass and steel structure on the banks of the Arkansas River; open, airy, light, and crammed with exhibits showing everything from an exact replica of the Oval Office to Billy Clinton’s high school diploma. Christmas decorations were up; I caught my reflection in a giant golden ornament on one of the red-ribboned trees. The top floor shows Life in the White House; Floor 2 offers an orientation film and a timeline of Clinton’s 8-year presidency; videos and interactive stations involve the viewer in moments of history. The temporary exhibit honoring the mothers was on the ground floor; tender memories lovingly displayed with an intro by granddaughter Chelsea Clinton. » read more