Unexpected Surprises

It's the little things in life that often put a smile on my face and an extra spring in my step. This unexpected surprise that greeted me in my mailbox was no exception. A few months ago, sitting at our dinner table, my husband shared great news: Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Obviously this was GREAT news, however the intense questioning that resulted from Emma and Wyatt- not so great. Ugh! We typically do a great job filtering our dinner conversation. As you can imagine it's usually G rated. Aaron and I did the best we could explaining terrorism, mass causality, the two wars our nation is currently fighting, etcetera, etcetera. I do believe Emma will be an incredibly effective FBI interrogator because the questions are endless with her! And they are well thought out, good questions. Questions I have no way of answering.

Unlike my fellow family members, I didn't start out a George W. Bush fan. I had supported John McCain in the 2000 primaries. Over the years I warmed to Bush for a few reasons; least of which was his communications skills. I liked the people he surrounded himself with: Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Dick Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Karen Hughes to name a few. But more than that, I liked the twinkle in his eye and the way he chewed the inside of his lip; Mr. Bush clearly was NOT a DC insider, and the fact that he wasn't polished and clearly wasn't an orator seemed refreshing to me. At the time, it nauseated me to hear sweet talkin' heads of hot air- I was ready for a new 8 years! Now, before you label me a right winged republican nut (it's okay, I like to consider myself a tad moderate, but not much more) please know I did start out a far left democrat! But that is another story in and of itself! Back to my unexpected surprise. So the week following Bin Laden's capture I had an overwhelming sense to send President Bush a thank you letter. And just like all those sweet children who send Santa Claus a letter addressed to the North Pole, my letter to the President look similar.

President George W. Bush
Crawford, Texas

Very simply, I sent a card expressing my gratitude for his leadership during a very scary and unsettling time. (Bush's book Decision Points, it a great read and offered such insight during that period.) I thanked him for his service to our country and wished God's continued blessings upon his family. I licked the envelop and stamp and popped it in the mailbox. Little did I know less than two months letter, a large nilla envelope with the presidential seal followed by George W. Bush would be greeting me! GET OUT!!!! I couldn't believe it. I ceremoniously opened the letter, and to my great surprise I read aloud to my children a letter from President Bush. You can only imagine my delight as I called my older sister to share my excitement. To my dismay, she didn't seem as excited as I thought she would be. "That's great Kate, how was the letter addressed?" she asked. "Dear Friend," I replied. "Yeah, that's what I thought. He probably has sent out thousands of those letters." she offered. "That may be true," I offered smugly, sensing where this was headed, "but do you have a letter from George Bush that was signed with either the most authentic looking signature stamp, or an actual sharpie pen?!" "Very true!" she conceded, and we both laughed and laughed at the absurdity of it. Is the letter I received from President G.W. Bush, most likely mass produced with a stamp signature-probably! However, the joy it brought me for a few minutes was completely unexpected, and makes for a fun story! Like I said, it's the little things  in life that make me happy!