Presidents' Day, officially Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is often celebrated to honor all those who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879, has been the federal holiday honoring Founding Father George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was the first U.S. president.

Washington's Birthday was celebrated on February 22 from 1879 until 1970. To give federal employees a three-day weekend, in 1968 the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved it to the third Monday in February, which can occur from February 15 to the 21st. The day soon became known as Presidents Day.

As many states and cities followed suit, some states that had been celebrating Lincoln's birthday on February 12 combined the two into Presidents Day. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, preserved the Union, abolished slavery, bolstered the federal government, and modernized the U.S. economy.

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As in previous years, my photo to commemorate the day is one from my past.

Before there was "Bella", there was "Misty."

The photo was taken with my very first digital camera back somewhere around 2001 or 2002. Misty was a homebred Brite Star Chihuahua. As a newborn, she was the smallest puppy in the litter and lacked the ability to nurse. That meant we had to tube feed her for over a month just to keep her alive. She then remained undersized - for even a very small Chihuahua puppy - until she was almost 3 months old. But suddenly, after weeks of our very intense and special care, she blossomed. In the end, Misty grew up to be the biggest one out of the 4 pups in that litter. Misty hit 4 pounds and was an exceptionally healthy adult until she hit 18 years old and developed kidney problems that required daily SQ fluids and medication.

Because we were "certain" (when she was a really young pup) that Misty would end up being a super small adult, I promised her to my mom as a pet. My mom could take her once Misty got past her very slow start in life & no longer needed special care. Well, that time I proved to be very wrong about Misty's predicted size. 😲 Her litter sister - who started out as the biggest, strongest pup in that litter (the one I planned to keep for show breeding) - instead ended up being the smallest as an adult. In fact, that pup grew up to be one of the smallest adult Chihuahuas I've ever had. Micro completely stopped growing at 12 weeks old when Misty's growth spurt suddenly took off. However, a promise was a promise. Even while Misty was still living at our house with me & my husband, my mom had fallen in love with her & considered puppy Misty as her girl. So, when Misty was 6 months old, she went to live with my mom and truly became "her dog."

After Misty's litter sisters both ended up too small to breed, I had my mom's permission to breed a litter from Misty. Misty was a high quality girl. However due to her slow start at birth (and not knowing what caused it), I never bred her. I didn't want to take any chance of potentially risking her life by having her carry and deliver pups. Therefore, she spent her life as just my mom's pet. And an occasional photography model. That was a good thing for both of them.

It wasn't until Misty's final year of life that she came back to live with us at the age of 18. My mom couldn't handle the special needs of a dog in renal decline. Fortunately, that last year was a good one for Misty right up until her very last couple of days. Despite having a very serious health condition, her quality of life remained high with our special care. Plus, my mom got to still see her almost daily.

Misty was a very special girl. Although she had a slow start in life, she lived a long and happy life. She was very much loved. Although she became my mom's dog, I also loved her. Whenever she was staying at our house (like those times that my mom had to be away for days & occasionally weeks), Misty slept in bed with us. She was family. Plus, a pretty cute model, too.

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Anyhow, happy birthday to America's forefathers George and Abraham.
And thanks for letting me take this trip down memory lane with our patriotic Misty on this special day.