An event in the news yesterday got me thinking of persons I've run into, usually by accident, over the years. One evening in Dallas, while working at a Bennigan's restaurant, I turned around and met the ABC sportscaster Pat Summerall as he walked in the door after a Cowboys' game. Just this past fall, I happened to be at an Obama campaign meeting and shook hands with Senator Ted Kennedy, something I'll never forget.
In years to come, Michelle Obama will no doubt describe for her daughters what it was like meeting Elizabeth II and the Duke of Windsor. Moments like that are encounters with living history. But this time, upon her return to the White House, I imagine a slightly different conversation.
"Mommy, Mommy, did you really meet her? What was she like? Did she give you an autograph? Tell us, tell us!"
"The Queen? Oh, she doesn't give autographs, but she was delightful."
"No, Mommy, not the Queen -- J. K. Rowling!"
It seems the First Lady was seated next to J. K. Rowling at a dinner for GD-20 spouses and I have no doubt the Obama daughters can hardly wait for their mother's detailed description of their meeting. They may have discussed Rowling's involvement with charitable causes and I wouldn't be surprised if she received an invitation to visit the White House at some point. But for her daughters, knowing their mother spent the evening with the creator of Harry Potter, it has to have been nothing short of magical.
In the midst of all our appropriately laiden concerns about the environment, the war in Iraq, and the future of the economy, it's wonderful having young children in the White House once again. The First Family being a family helps create a sense of proportion and optimism that we've badly needed. We can be battered but not defeated, stressed but not in despair, down but not out.
I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Michelle tells her daughters about J. K. Rowling and it does my heart good to think of the Harry Potter novels on a bookshelf in the White House. I hope it does yours good as well.
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