Today is the much-loved Dr.Seuss’s birthday. When I was at the elementary school this morning, the halls were filled with children in jammies. They were all marching into the library for a special story-time to celebrate Dr.Seuss. My only Dr.Seuss claim to fame is having “Hop on Pop” memorized. My mother has a much better story and yes, I know I’ve told it before, but I’m telling it again. Old people repeat themselves. When my mother was in high school (in California), she decided to do a report on Dr.Seuss. She researched at the library (how did people function without computers) and found his home phone number. She called his house and nervously explained to his wife why she was calling. Helen Geisel took down my mother’s name and said she would see what she could do. Later that night, Dr.Geisel aka Dr.Seuss called my mother and gave some teenager he had never met a phone interview. When my mother read to us, she almost always chose Dr.Seuss books. She still talks about how kind the Geisels were to her. Do something today to celebrate the life of a man who practiced what he preached.

“The best slogan I can think of to leave with the U.S.A. would be: ‘We can…and we’ve got to…do better than this.’ ” Dr. Seuss