Open Letter to Barack Obama

If I were going to write an open letter to P.E.B.O., it might read like this:

Dear President-Elect Obama,

First of all let me say how happy it makes me to add "Obama" to my Word dictionary....(I note that the 2007 Office already has it while the 2003 version does not.)

And I must tell you Mazal Tov -- Congratulations! You obviously worked hard for this victory and you deserve it.

Oh, and I voted for you (in both the primary and the general elections) and I made many, many phone calls to get out the vote on your behalf. So again, congrats!

Obviously you have your work cut out for you. There will be days that will not be fun or pleasant. Days when your family will not see you and you will barely acknowledge their presence because you're so busy (sorry to remind you of this unpalatable fact -- trust me, I'm a single mom and I know it's hard to have a demanding job and a family). You're bound to encounter days when you'd rather not be serving anyone, let alone our giant, problem-filled country. But I suspect that most days you will feel gratified and energized. (That is my hope for you anyway....)

Without a doubt you are going to have a lot of people and concerns pulling you this way and that. Unfortunately there are a lot of messed up things that need fixing -- and we've voted you as the best person for the job! I'm hoping that you can continue to use the good sense you seem to be blessed with and that you realize the intricacies of the word "triage." And, certainly, you won't be able to please everyone or fix every problem (ask any mom).

That's where being a thoughtful person with a high intellect will serve you well. (Oh, and on that note, let me also tell you thanks for being an unabashed intellectual. Truly I'm not sure I could have sat still for another four years of dumb....) Anyway, I hope that you can use your perspicacity to know what advisers to choose (because you can't know everything you'll need to know about every subject), what decisions to make, and how best to conduct your private and public life. (Oh, and speaking of your private life, it is certainly not my business what you do in your spare time, but I do hope that you do not succumb to the school of thought and behavior that seems to say "I'm famous and I can have sex with anyone I want, just because...." That would really suck for your family and your country and I have to admit that I was personally shocked when I read about John Edwards and I would hate to read the same about you....)

Everyone is telling you what to do...or trying to....I guess the point is, my wish for you is that you can stay true to yourself. (The same advice, really, that I give my three teenagers, especially the older when when he left this fall to travel 3,000 miles from home to attend college.) In other words, as I seem to recall people writing in my 7th grade annual, "Stay as cute as you are and have a bitchen summer...."