Barack Obama Dries A Little Girl’s Tears And Dances With A Centenarian
Barack Obama deals with global issues that have the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis, but he still also has to deal with everyday people. As the Indian Express reported, he is adept at both ends of the spectrum.
On February 13, 2015, Barack Obama had to deal with something that most world leaders don’t come into contact with every day: a crying little girl. As it turns out, a little girl in the United States burst into tears when she found out that Barack Obama would not be the president of the United States for very much longer. Her grandmother Caprina Harris broke the news to the little girl and posted her reaction video on Facebook, which ultimately made its way directly to the president. When the little girl found out via her grandmother that Barack Obama would soon be replaced, it was too much for her to handle and she had a surprisingly sweet reaction.
“I’m not ready. I’m not ready for a new one!”
Her grandmother explained that Barack Obama has been president for the entire duration of her grandchild’s life and that the little girl hadn’t realized that a president can only serve two terms. The grandmother advised the little girl to write Barack Obama a letter and then posted the entire exchange on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/caprina.harris/posts/10205731792515505
The video went viral and was quickly viewed more than two million times. It was perhaps inevitable that with all the international attention, it would make its way straight to Barack Obama. The president chose to reply directly to the grandmother with a message for the little girl.
In his message, he asked the grandmother to dry the girl’s tears and to tell her that he’s not going anywhere. He explained that once is no longer at the White House, he will still be a citizen just like everyone else. He even gave her some advice for the future, encouraging her to “get involved right alongside me” when she grows up. He mentioned that he would be looking forward to receiving her letter and that he noticed that they share the same birthday.
Barack Obama’s daughter, Malia Obama, later re-shared the entire exchange with the caption “Thanks for the huge love and support!!”
The little girl was not the only special encounter that Barack Obama had with a remarkable person in February 2016. Virginia McLaurin, who is 106-years-old, was lucky enough to meet Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama recently. By the way the president and the first lady reacted, perhaps they were the lucky ones.
As the Independent reported, McLaurin had been waiting a long time to meet Barack Obama, and even her old age could not stop her from dancing an excited little jig when she finally had Barack Obama in one hand and Michelle Obama in the other. As the Independent reported, McLaurin “danced with sheer and utter joy,” flashing her bright smile and “shaking her hips like a 16-year-old.”
The meeting was a dream come true for McLaurin, who said she never thought she would live to see the inside of the White House. But more than that, she never thought she would see the day when America would have its first African-American president.
“I tell you, I am so happy. A black president, yay, and his black wife.”
https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse/videos/10154121494004238/
Just like the video of the little girl crying because Barack Obama would soon no longer be president, the footage of Virginia McLaurin dancing with President Barack Obama quickly went viral, being viewed almost nine million times in less than five hours after it was first published on Barack Obama’s Facebook page.
The meeting was more than 12 months in the making after Virginia submitted a petition to the White House back in December 2014 asking to meet Barack Obama. In her petition, she said that she had never met a president. Being born in the South, she didn’t think that she would ever live to see a “colored president.”
Perhaps the part of her petition that first won over the affections of Barack Obama was the offer that McLaurin made to make the meeting easier for the president.
“I know you are a busy man, but I wish I could meet you. [I’ll] come to your house to make things easier.”
[Photo by Pool/Getty Images]
