The most popular song in the English language undoubtedly was sung to you on your first birthday - and probably thereafter by you to many family members and friends dozens of times a year.

Grown men and women in service clubs sing it to each other every week with gusto.

It was the first song to be sung in outer space - by Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969.

Only the songs "Auld Lang Syne" and "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" are almost as often sung.

By now, you have guessed that the famous ditty is "Happy Birthday To You."

Ask Grandpa Monroe Barnes, "How are you?" and his answer would be, "I’m walking in high cotton."

This was not just a pleasantry, but a philosophy of life well earned and recognized as such by the cotton farmers of Boot Heel, Missouri, back when King Cotton was the cash crop.

(1985 article) The ghost of George Washington must have smiled wryly last week as Congress rose to its feet after President Reagan's state of the union address and serenaded him with a "Happy Birthday" song.

How different is our attitude toward the office of President than it was two centuries ago. Today it is ruffles and flourishes, hail to the chief, cheers and handshakes.

It was not so for the Father of our country.