It began with a comment I made many times before on many educational trips with middle school students. “We are walking where Martha Washington walked, how amazing is this?”, but this time the reply I got made me take pause, makes me now respond differently. We were on our last day of a 5 day trip packed full of historical sites, long days and now a tinge of middle school sass. Little did either the student or myself know that he was about to change my entire outlook and spark a new direction for me. This student responded to my Martha excitement with a simple reply “So, what does that mean?”.

Standing on the grounds of Mount Vernon, walking the pathways of history, what could I take away from it? What can we see by walking the paths of those before us, these examples of our nation’s first ladies? Thus I embark on this journey to dine as they dine, take on the causes of their hearts, learn their public supportive stances and answer the question I was posed: What does it mean to walk where others have walked? What can it mean for my life? What could it mean for yours?