He looks like me

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To the Editor:

Dear President Obama, thank you for your service in leading our country during the last eight years. As you leave the oval office, I would like to share with you what transpired in my family on the day you were first voted into office.

All during the election season, I had prayed mightily that you would win, not solely because you were the best candidate, but because I wanted my three-year-old, African American granddaughter, Janet, to see herself in the face of the new President of the United States of America.

Early on the morning of the election, I drove from our home on Martha’s Vineyard to Washington, D.C., to visit her mom, our daughter Angel. The plan was that I would pick her up at preschool. It was late in the afternoon when I finally arrived. I asked the teacher if her students had watched the election. Her eyes grew wide as she said, “Yes.” She explained that all the children had been sitting on the floor and that when it was announced that you, Mr. President, had won, Janet stood up, pointed at you on the television screen and announced, “He looks just like me!”  

The news took my breath away! The power of prayer, longing, hope …

May you and your family continue to be blessed.

Peggy McGrath

Oak Bluffs