PRESIDENT OBAMA LETTER TO OREGON’S BOOMER BLOGGER

 

Fan letter delivers President Obama letter.

 

What happens after you write a fan letter to the President of the United States?

You like their act so you write them to say so. Then forget about it.

They’re not looking for a new best friend. Besides he’s got Joe Biden.

The memorable part was the White House form.

Fill that out and you’re not in the Army, but it’s pretty thorough.

Since I’ve been there, jumped off the platforms, my personal info isn’t that personal.

On top of that, Blogger Law says you must reveal the good stuff. Blogland has enough experts blowing smoke, but no one can ever bring it home like Personal Blogger.

Think of a birthday card from your Grandma, the one where she says how proud she is to be your granny.

That personal. All feelings aside, that’s how I take my President Obama letter.

Do I care if the same letter gets cranked out to millions, tens of millions? Do I give one heck?

Not when it took every heck in the house for Obama to stand up for America over eight years. PFC Me gave it two years and it was enough.

No matter the government job, it’s still a government job with all the weird government culture.

President Obama did it right. Thanks, Mr. President.

For more reasons than I list, Oregon’s Boomer Blogger, just another old Army private, salutes the man in the highest office, the man who elevated the job, who showed leaders across the globe what a Chicago game-face looks like.

And there’s this:

Dear David:

One of the most important things I’ve done as President is read messages from Americans like you.  And whether you sat down to write me a letter back in 2009 or just last week, I wanted to say thank you for writing.

Presidential Thank You?

Check.

Letters like yours have given me the chance to hear the real stories that make up the ever changing narrative of America.  They are stories of your setbacks and successes, your fears and your hopes not just for today—but for the country and the world we’ll leave to our children and our grandchildren.  I want you to know that I was listening.  I heard your stories.  And you made me a better President.

Made A Better President?

Check.

In 2014, a young mom took a chance and shared her family’s story with me.  She said she knew that “staying silent about what you see and what needs changing never makes any difference.”  She was right.  And so, while serving you has been the greatest privilege of my life, I want you to know that when I leave the White House, I’ll still hold the most important title of all:  that of citizen.

Presidential Service?

Check.

And as a proud American citizen, I believe that we are a constant work in progress.  Our success has never been certain.  None of our journey has been preordained.  There’s always been a gap between our highest ideals and the reality we witness every day.  But what makes us exceptional—what makes us Americans—is that we have fought wars, and passed laws, and reformed systems, and organized unions, and staged protests, and launched mighty movements to close that gap.  To bring the promise and the practice of America into closer alignment.  To form that more perfect union.

National Archive Reference From Constitutional Scholar?

Check.

So our collective future depends on our collective willingness to uphold our duties as citizens:  to vote, to speak out, and to stand up for others knowing that each of us is only here because somebody, somewhere, stood up for us.  And for the rest of my days, I promise I will be right there alongside you, continuing to do my part to build a better, more prosperous, more diverse and inclusive America—an America with a future full of hope.

American Hope?

Check.

From all of us in the Obama family—thank you for writing.

All the best,

Barack Obama

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This is the most unexpected, sweetest, email from a sitting President ever. And the only one.

Now that it’s near the end of his term I’ll confess why I like this guy and other’s like him:

He married a woman who loves her mother, who gets along with her mother.

Which means the husband also loves her mother, also gets along with her mother.

Do I know what I’m talking about? In the words of Henny Youngman:

“Take my wife. Please.”

Marry into the mother-daughter bond and hang on tight.

Obama held on. He had to.

Would you rather walk out in front of thousands of people? Or walk into a room where your wife, mother in law, and two daughters waited for you?

No matter the venue, Obama played to a tough audience and made us married guys in multi-generational homes proud.

It might be hard to miss, but President Obama had another life for eight years: just another guy in the Sandwich Generation.

That part that won’t change after he leaves office.

It’s a part that never will, never does.

Reminds me of my mum-in-law. Hi Judy.