Today is Juneteenth, a day commemorating the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865 (yes, the Emancipation Proclamation was years earlier, but Texas was not about to take orders from Lincoln at that point) that is now observed in some fashion in 42 states.

That day has since become known as Juneteenth, a name coming from a portmanteau of the word June and the suffix, “teenth”, as in “Nineteenth”, coined by 1903.

I do enjoy a good portmanteau, but not nearly as much as my basic freedoms. As we ramp up to July 4th, Juneteenth is a good reminder that this country is a work in progress.