Such as, for me: an interest in the American presidents--the lives of the presidents, the histories of their presidencies.
In October, I had an appointment in West Caldwell, New Jersey, less than a half hour from where I live. I knew that a few miles away, in Caldwell, NJ, is the home where Grover Cleveland was born, in 1837 (though the Cleveland family moved to Onondaga County, New York, in 1841).
Cleveland, of course, is the sole American president to have served non-consecutive terms. He was the country's 22nd president, and its 24th.
I drove to the Cleveland house, after leaving West Caldwell. I knew in advance that the home was currently closed to the public, because of construction taking place at the site. (I don't know if the construction concerns plans, referred to in the link below, for a Visitor Center at the site.) Yet I was delighted to simply see the exterior of the home.
https://caldwell-nj.com/index.asp?SEC=EB8D8E00-9060-468C-B387-A112A72BAC3D
For what it is worth, I am certain that my interest in the subject of
America's presidents began in 1963, when President Kennedy was
killed--fifty-eight years ago tomorrow At the time, I was seven.
I still have the November 23, 1963 edition of The Boston Globe, the headline of which contained a dramatic, eloquent rhyme: SHOCK...DISBELIEF...GRIEF.
I also still have the photograph, above, a picture I took after the assassination. The photograph is of the front page of the November 23rd Globe. I remember placing the newspaper on a couch in our house, in order to take the picture. This partial, slightly out-of-focus, black and white image of the front page of the paper, taken when I was seven, remains interesting to me, fifty-eight years after the fact.
(Photographs of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace, Caldwell, NJ, and of the November 23, 1963 Boston Globe, © Andrew Fielding)
