Sheryl for day 2 After a sound sleep in what I remember as being a very nice hotel last night, we were off at the crack of 8am. We headed into Atlanta this morning to the birthplace, the preaching place and the resting place of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Although time wouldn’t allow us to take the tour of the inside of his childhood home, we did go to it and were able to enter/tour the first church he preached at (along with his father), the Ebenezer Baptist Church. That was a very neat experience to see the pulpit and picture where MLK praised God. And in between both of these landmarks is his and his wife’s final resting place… A tomb in the middle of a wading pool.  Very peaceful, very simple. And on his tomb are inscribed his famous words, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty. I am free at last.”

We also had the privilege today to listen to the author Glenn Eskew who titled ‘But to Birmingham’, discussed the movement in Birmingham of the time and also compared and contrasted the differences of Birmingham, AL to Atlanta and even Pittsburgh, PA.

And to our delight we met Juanita Abernathy, Civil Rights activist and wife of Rev. Ralph Abernathy. She is one of the few still living today from the days of the C.R. Movement and is just as passionate now talking about and supporting rights as she was in her youth. Meeting Mrs. Abernathy gave all of us on the trip a taste of the thrill we are in for to meet all the amazing historians and legacies of the era this week. I can’t wait!

I also watched the movie “The Butler” today. WOW!  Probably better that I waited until now to watch that movie. There’s a lot I wouldn’t have appreciated in it even 3 days ago. I cried…