Galveston on the Cutting Edge
We kind of got off track there. Let’s continue, shall we?
I didn’t know it, but Galveston was quite the grand dame in its heyday. It was the capital of Texas for 30 years. The port of Galveston was the only Confederate seaport that did not fall to the Yankees during the Civil War. Go Rebs! It was also the first city in the whole state of Texas to have gas and electric lights and telephones. And finally, it was the second-richest city in the whole United States right up until the hurricane of 1900 wiped it off the map so to speak. It never fully recovered after that.
The Victorians Survived in Galveston
We took a bus tour of the city and discovered the other gem it is known for: It has the country’s largest collection of 19th-century Victorian homes and buildings. These old beauties managed to survive the vicious Cat 4 that struck Galveston Island on September 8th, 1900. They were built to last. Unfortunately, the people were not prepared and up to 12,000 Galvestonians lost their lives. It is still the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
U V Rays of Confusion
One of my fellow tour bus riders was dumbfounded when she saw this statue. She said aloud to anyone who might care to listen and even comment, “Look at the V on the statue. Did they make a mistake? Shouldn’t that be a U and not a V?” She nudged her friend, “Do you see that?” “Ah, yes. I see that.” “Well isn’t that something that they would make a mistake on a statue like that?”
Another woman sitting across the aisle quietly said something to the effect of, “It’s a stylized U.” “What?” “It’s a decorative, more formal way of writing the U,” the woman said, not lifting her head to look at the angst-ridden observer of what’s written on statues. “Really.” A few minutes later she said, “I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s not right.” The bus fell silent as we moved on from the fancy letter crisis. Just one more thing, it’s a lot easier to chisel a V than a U. Just sayin’.
Señor General Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna
We were, in fact, looking at the Texas Heroes Monument. It was unveiled in April 1900 to honor the heroes of the Texas Revolution. This revolt occurred when the Mexican dictator Santa Anna (for short) steamrolled over the constitution and he and his cronies got rich along the way, a story as old as time.
Santa Anna was 36 when he married his very wealthy first wife Inez who was 14. She had 5 children and died at 33. While people were paying their respects to the popular First Lady, the funeral was suddenly halted to make way for the wedding of Santa Anna and his new 15-year-old girlfriend. He was 50. This guy sounds a lot like the other guy.
Inez also smoked small paper cigarettes that she kept in a diamond and gold cigarette case. This was considered “scandalously modern”. Women weren’t allowed to smoke. Smoke ’em if ya got ’em, Nezzy.
However, the Texans were not Mexicans even though they belonged to Mexico so they took offense to this wayward general and rose up. The Alamo was attacked during this fight. Remember the Alamo. Eventually, Texas separated from Mexico (which really made Mexico mad) and became the Republic of Texas until it was gobbled up by the Republic of the United States of America. Soon after, we had the Mexican War because Mexico was still really, really mad at what Texas had done.
A Word About Honor
On the other side of the column are etched ‘Honor’ and ‘Devotion’. It is important to confer honor on people because it will inspire others to act honorably and in this way, we celebrate honesty. What am I talking about? I’m saying that you don’t have to be brilliant, just state what you believe. This is the only hope of dispelling lies and living honorably. All it takes is one person and that person could be you. However, it’s not always easy because the consequences can be dire. As someone from a police state once said:
The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
One word of truth can turn the world around. For example, men cannot menstruate or give birth. A child needs a mother and a father. It’s bewildering that someone would even feel the need to say that. Think about it.
I thought about it and now there is one more thing. If you do manage to gather up your courage and then have to face the wrath of your detractors, remember what Atticus Finch said to Scout:
“Atticus, you must be wrong…” “How’s that?” “Well, most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong.” “They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, page 139, Grand Central Publishing
I think I’ve exhausted my quota of quotes. Let’s move along.
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