Back in the Old Times

Chapter 28

After that morning with Eliza, we did so much in our lives. We've made a motto for ourselves and we stuck to it. We always told everyone around us this phrase.

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story.

Whenever I met with Jefferson while he was president, he would talk about how genius Alexander's financial system was. I remember he tried to undo it but he couldn't. I also remember how Eliza and I laughed about his attempts to undo that plan for weeks.

When Madison took over as president he tried to give Alexander credit for the things he did. He talked about how Alexander took our country from bankruptcy to prosperity. Madison knew that Alexander gave them so much credit for the things they did, so he was returning the favor.

Over the years Angelica would talk about how all of the other founding fathers are getting to grow old. Their stories are getting told but we were going to make sure that my husband would not be forgotten.

Burr had been hiding away from our family. I knew that he was the one who shot Alexander, I forgave him though. It was fate, it was meant to happen. Sure I didn't understand why, but I am letting fate take its course.

But as for me, I put myself back in the narrative.

I stopped wasting my time on tears. I've been living for another fifty years, so tears were nothing to me anymore. All of this time I had been given and I feel like it's still not enough.

I interviewed every soldier that fought by Alexander's side. I even got to interview Laf and Herc before they passed on to the other side. They had died and went to go join the others. They were both great and brave men.

I also spent hours upon hours analyzing every page of writing he had. There were hundreds of letters, documents, and drafts. I didn't know he wrote this much. He always wrote like he was running out of time so I wasn't that surprised.

Eliza and I relied on Angelica sometimes. She was always happy to help and tell our stories. It wasn't long before she joined the others to. She died with a happy life. I remembered the pain that Eliza and I felt when we were the only ones left. Our father had passed years ago so he was no longer around either.

Our family was buried in Trinity Church, so we visited them often. Eliza and I would always bring flowers to lay on their graves. Angelica was buried near Alexander, I remembered how fond she was of him. I wanted to make sure that they would be close for the rest of time. Whenever we needed her I remembered she was right on time. I would always catch myself smiling as I thought about my older sister.

But I still wasn't through. I would always ask myself what would he do if he had more time? I  always remembered to thank the Lord every day for giving me his kindness and letting me live longer.

Eliza and I then raised funds in D.C. for the Washington Monument. We were going to tell Washington's legacy as well. It was our goal to spread the words of our first president.

I then continued with Alexander, Peggy and John's work as I spoke out against slavery. I wanted to free all slaves and make them free. Every time I spoke out in the public eye I kept thinking about him. What would he do with this time? He could have done so much more than what I'm doing.

I would always rant with Eliza in our free time. I remembered asking her if I've done enough, and when my time is up will they tell our story. She would always say yes and tell me that if I did any more I would tire myself out. I never listened to the last part though. I always wanted to do more with my life.

Throughout my life, I had a lot to be proud of. Although, there is one thing that I've done that will top over everything else. Eliza and I established the first private orphanage in New York City. I became the founder and Eliza was the co-founder of the orphanage.