Dear President Obama

Several weeks ago my then four-year-old grandson Gabriel came to me asking how to spell Obama. A few weeks before that at dinner out of the blue he had asked my husband and I if all the soldiers just went home wouldn’t there be peace then? When he brought the subject up again two days later I told him that he ought to write a letter to the President and tell him his idea.

Three weeks went by before he came to me with paper and pencil (I got him a pen) and asked how to spell Obama. His patient Mamae sat with him and made him sound out every word he wanted to write. It went something like Dear President Obama, If you let all the soldiers go home then there would be peace. Sincerely, Gabriel Francis Casey-Aguinaga. I briefly contemplated writing a note of my own to include with his explaining that this was the singular work of the mind of a four-year-old alone, but by the time I asked if he’d sealed the envelope it was too late so I addressed it, put a stamp on it and the next day put it in the mailbox in front of the house we share with Gabriel and his parents.

Many more weeks have passed. This morning I left for Oregon to attend the Oregon Lavender Festival. This afternoon my son called me saying that Gabriel had something to tell me. “Remember when I wrote the letter to President Obama?” Of course I remembered. “I got a letter from him today!” He sounded so excited! I told him I couldn’t wait to see it when I get home on Monday. When my son got back on the telephone he told me that one of Gabriel’s comments had been “It’s just like the President is right here in the room and we’re having a conversation!”

I had hoped that eventually Gabriel would get some sort of response from the Oval Office. My son says it is a form letter, but I will decide for myself when I get to see it on Monday. In the meantime I have a very happy and impressed grandson.