Dear Mr. President and Mrs. Obama:
I am writing with excitement, to let you know that my husband, our two children and I are scheduled to take a tour of the White House. We have seen the holiday decorations online, and we can’t wait to see them in person. The kids are especially excited to see the statues of Sunny and Bo.
I also wanted to share how important it is for me to be visiting at this time. When I was 9 years old, my father, a Persian immigrant, brought our family to DC for a visit. I remember seeing the White House and how happy my dad was to share our American city with us. I remember that he told us to look around, that all of this WAS ours. Having grown up in Iran, my dad always impressed upon us how lucky we were to be Americans, to know the liberty and equality that so many can only dream about. He loved this country deeply and taught us about the tremendous opportunity it offered to him and to us; he understood this better than most because he lived it.
I am sorry to say that my father has since passed on, so we will be making this trip without him. I know that he will be in my heart as we walk through the halls of your home, our nation’s home. And I will tell my children what he told me: this is the greatest country in the world where people believe in liberty, equality, justice and human rights, but that it is our responsibility to keep those ideals alive and to give them to our children, like they were given to him and like he gave them to me.
Thank you to you both for all the work you have done to keep our American promise so that it will exist for our children, their children and beyond. In visiting Independence Hall earlier this year, I pointed out to the children the sun on the back of George Washington’s chair, and reminded them of Ben Franklin’s observation that it was, indeed, a rising sun. It burns brighter because of the work you have done, the example you have set and the challenge that you have issued for us all to live up to and to expand what has been given to us.
If you’re not busy on the morning of our visit, look for us, maybe we can get a coffee. We will be the ordinary ones: a mom, a dad, a boy and a girl basking in the Christmas lights and ogling at the decorations. But, if you do see us, know that we quietly carry the legacy of hope that binds us to my dad and to all Americans. And, for your service to that legacy, we are truly thankful.
With gratitude,
Susan Tabrizi
I am writing with excitement, to let you know that my husband, our two children and I are scheduled to take a tour of the White House. We have seen the holiday decorations online, and we can’t wait to see them in person. The kids are especially excited to see the statues of Sunny and Bo.
I also wanted to share how important it is for me to be visiting at this time. When I was 9 years old, my father, a Persian immigrant, brought our family to DC for a visit. I remember seeing the White House and how happy my dad was to share our American city with us. I remember that he told us to look around, that all of this WAS ours. Having grown up in Iran, my dad always impressed upon us how lucky we were to be Americans, to know the liberty and equality that so many can only dream about. He loved this country deeply and taught us about the tremendous opportunity it offered to him and to us; he understood this better than most because he lived it.
I am sorry to say that my father has since passed on, so we will be making this trip without him. I know that he will be in my heart as we walk through the halls of your home, our nation’s home. And I will tell my children what he told me: this is the greatest country in the world where people believe in liberty, equality, justice and human rights, but that it is our responsibility to keep those ideals alive and to give them to our children, like they were given to him and like he gave them to me.
Thank you to you both for all the work you have done to keep our American promise so that it will exist for our children, their children and beyond. In visiting Independence Hall earlier this year, I pointed out to the children the sun on the back of George Washington’s chair, and reminded them of Ben Franklin’s observation that it was, indeed, a rising sun. It burns brighter because of the work you have done, the example you have set and the challenge that you have issued for us all to live up to and to expand what has been given to us.
If you’re not busy on the morning of our visit, look for us, maybe we can get a coffee. We will be the ordinary ones: a mom, a dad, a boy and a girl basking in the Christmas lights and ogling at the decorations. But, if you do see us, know that we quietly carry the legacy of hope that binds us to my dad and to all Americans. And, for your service to that legacy, we are truly thankful.
With gratitude,
Susan Tabrizi