
The Nearness of History: My Grandfather and the Ghosts of the Civil War
I love history, but for some history can feel like a dusty shelf—distant, sepia-toned, cordoned off from our lives by textbooks and grainy black-and-white photos. But every so often, a story, a date, or a person cracks open time and reminds us just how close history truly is. For me, it’s this: My grandfather, Ferdinand Green McKenzie, was born on May 14, 1873 (yes, 152 years ago today). That’s just eight years and one month after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Let that sit with you for a minute. Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, and died the next morning. The Civil War had ended less than a week earlier. America was torn and traumatized. And in less time than it takes to complete The rest of the story