joan garry

I guess it could be any dad.  At least any dad with a really big swingset.  This dad also has a really big yard.  At his house, they call it the South Lawn.

I’m on a school trip to DC with Ben and Kit, their 8th grade classmates, teachers and several parents.  We were thrilled to have a tour of the White House.  My friend Sam told me it would be self-guided.  No guide?  I thought – our kids need a guide. And so, being the over-achiever that I am,  I went online, researched the floors, the locations of things and came prepared to make sure that this was a special tour for the class.

Little did I know.

We walked in and the woman at the desk asked us if we’d like to go out on the South Lawn (not a typical part of the tour) and see the President off on his helicoper as he left for Andrews Air Force Base and a trip to Mexico.

Well, OK we said.

And then one by one we realized we didn’t have cameras. Not allowed.   I did not have my fabulous camera with the amazing zoom.

That is why this picture of President Barack Obama (taken with my cellphone) looks like it could be any dad walking in front of his over-sized swingset.

But it’s not just any dad.  It’s dad-in-chief.

It was a thrill waving like a 4 year old as  the helicopter take off.  The last time I saw a Presidental helicpoter take off I was also making a gesture with my hand.  But it did not involve all five digits on my hand.

My favorite line of the day belonged to one Charlie O’Connor.  Age 13.  He had his cell phone in his hand and he said to no one in particular.  “I can’t keep the camera steady.  I’m shaking.”

I spent the day with a group for whom the term “awesome” is used liberally.

Today that adjective seemed just right.