Dear Mr. President,

Thank you. 'Just letting you know it came yesterday. He was rather surprised, and quite happy with it. Not that he wanted to admit it or anything. Like any 9 year old boy, it was imperative to him that he not show too much emotion. But if you look closely, you can see he was trying so hard not to burst into a huge smile as he read your reply. Of course, the whole thing brought a torrent of questions:

"Mom! Is that really his signature?!" -

'Um, probably a copy, buddy.'

"Wow! Do you think he addressed the outside of the envelope, though??"

'Um, no. Most likely not.' -

"But it's handwritten... Hey! Maybe Mrs. Obama did!"

-'Well... not exactly, Joel, although I guess it's a very remote possibility. 'Probably a secretary. Or an intern or something.'

"What's an intern? What do you mean, remote? Like far away?"

-'No, meaning it's highly unlikely.'-

"But it could be, right? I mean, technically, Mrs. Obama could have, though!"

-'Technically, though extremely unlikely, I guess that it's slightly possible, Joel.'

"Yeah. I know. Probably. Maybe she did. Wicked cool!"


Oh, the audacity of hope. But you did make his day. So thank you, Mr. President.

"The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams."

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Connecticut-born, best-selling author