Our founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, were hateful to one another.  Both were Presidents. They had not spoken in eleven years.  Adams wanted more government while Jefferson wanted limited government.

After retirement, at the urging of friends and family, John Adams sent a letter to Thomas Jefferson wishing him many happy years to come.  It was January 6th, 1812.  Surprisingly, Jefferson wrote back two weeks later and for the next 14 years they carried on a remarkable friendship that lasted until their demise.  They wrote of family, memories of political battles and what they had accomplished together.  Truly a profound change made more remarkable as the time passed.

They died as good friends.  What is the most incredible irony, coincidence or divine intervention, they died on July 4th, 1826.  Exactly fifty years after the Declaration of Independence we celebrate on this day.  As john Adams took his final breaths, he said “Jefferson still survives.”   What he did not know was Thomas Jefferson had died four hours earlier.  Adams was 94.  Jefferson was 82.

They were the final Founding Fathers to pass.   Let us celebrate on this 4th of July and never forget what these two courageous brilliant men did for the lives we live today.

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