She was the wife of our second President, and mother of the sixth. She was the first lady to take on hostess duties at the newly constructed White House, and she was a VERY influential part of the political life in our nation’s capital. Abigail Adams blew past any preconceived ideas about what a First Lady should do, be or say. Abigail demanded that her husband John, and the other lawmakers “remember the ladies” when attending the First Continental Congress in 1776. In a poignant letter to her son Quincy in 1778, she urged him to always put virtue above talent. She did not live to see him serve as the sixth President of the United States, yet her letters (still being published by her decedents) always spoke of honor, integrity, truth and above all else virtue.
She lived during a time when most women were related to the responsibilities of running a household. She not only did that, she managed their large farm, investments and business ventures while her husband John was away building a law practice, serving as a circuit judge, a diplomat and being a revolutionary. She not only kept the home first burning, she set their world a blaze…giving her husband the freedom to help us become the nation we are today. There were times when she and John were very poor, so she did it all to make their life function within the confines of their finances.
I was doing laundry the other day, and Abigail Adams came to mind. I have female friends who won’t do laundry, as they say, “I’m not the maid.” They see that task as beneath them or something that relegates them to being a lowly servant. I disagree. I see the tasks and opportunities to run our world as a gift, a chance to get things done so things run smoothly. Someone has to do it, (I do the laundry, my husband does the grocery shopping & cooking) and if a maid service or cleaner is not a financially viable option, someone has to wash and fold the towels. It does not make me the maid…it harks back to Abigail Adams:
Great learnings superior abilities, should you ever possess them, will be of little value and small estimation, unless virtue, honor, truth and integrity are added to them.
– Abigail Adams 1818
Doing what it takes to run your life – laundry, dishes, cleaning up after the kids, the taxes, running a family farm, managing investments and even corresponding with the world – are all very important elements of life. When we do not value the little things it takes to live our lives we set ourselves up for turmoil, drama and missed opportunities in the future. Who wants to leave for an important meeting only to find that you have nothing to wear as it is all in the dirty clothes hamper?!? I think Abigail did WHATEVER it took to make her life with John Adams, her role as First Lady, and even her role as business woman and mother work. She didn’t think of it as beneath her or something that made her less than; she did ALL the jobs with virtue, honor, truth and integrity. THAT is what made her world work, her family work, her marriage work AND laid a foundation for the nation.
So next time you are folding towels or cleaning out the kitty litter, give thanks. Be glad that you are blessed to have those things to do. Do them well and with joy, so you can then move forward on a firm foundation, knowing you did whatever it took to make your life work.
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