Meet the President
The arrival of the President in the
Yosemite Valley was an event to be remembered. The sound of several large
helicopters thundering through the air unexpectedly sent many unsuspecting
tourists running for cover.
Returning from Glacier Point, the First
Lady and the President landed in a meadow right across from Yosemite Falls.
Helping his wife and children step out
of the helicopter, the President took them on a short hike to see the beautiful
waterfall.
Paul Bunyan waited near the waterfall,
protected by the President’s security team, while John Henry joined the
President with his family.
After seeing the falls, they would all
return to a meadow in front of the Yosemite Chapel for the President’s speech
and announcements.
Lucas was full of energy, hiking next to
Lucy towards lower Yosemite Falls.
“I can’t wait to meet the President,” he
said to Lucy excitedly.
The President was just ahead of them on
the trail, hiking next to his family.
“I doubt he will have time to meet us,”
Lucy replied.
John and Tali were both listening, right
behind them.
“You better think of a question!” Tali
said from behind.
“Why?” asked Lucy. “He’s too busy.”
Tali smiled as she noticed the President
on his way over to talk to them.
“This morning he told me that he wanted
to meet the both of you in person,” Tali explained.
Lucas stopped walking and turned to face
his Mom. The group of people behind them all stopped and watched the President
sneaking up from behind.
“What could I possibly ask him?” Lucas
asked.
Lucy looked at her mom doubtfully.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
Tali ignored her question.
“Try asking him something intelligent,”
suggested Tali.
Lucy turned around to see where the
President was, without seeing him standing right at her side.
“I can’t even see him anymore.” she
said.
“That’s because I am right here,” the
President replied from right next to her.
Lucy laughed thinking it was her dad
trying to tease her. She continued walking without even looking at who it was.
“Great impression dad,” she said
sarcastically.
She was the only one walking.
“How’s
it going John?” the President said loud enough for Lucy to hear.
“You are still not fooling me,” Lucy
called back.
Lucas was right in front of the
President. “How do you do, Mister President?” he asked politely.
Lucy stopped walking when she noticed
the crowd was all turning to watch the President talk to Lucas. She quickly
closed her eyes feeling like a dork, wishing she could disappear.
“I am great!” The President replied,
shaking Lucas’s hand. “I’m surrounded by wonderful people in a beautiful
place.”
The President was wearing a white button
up long sleeve shirt, rolled up to the elbows, and blue jean pants. Not the usual suit and tie a President
normally wears.
“Happy Father’s Day!” Lucas said, still
catching his breath. He was having a hard time keeping up with the crowd.
The President was impressed at the way
Lucas knew exactly what to say, and he was aware of how tired Lucas
looked.
“Do you mind if I give you a lift on my
shoulders?” the President asked politely.
Lucas gave him a funny look.
“I didn’t think a President could do
stuff like that,” he replied
The President reached down and lifted
Lucas up to his shoulders, just like his dad does.
“I do this all the time with my own
family.” He explained.
Lucas noticed all the guards holding
guns and even some had machine guns.
“Why do they have so many guns?” he
asked.
The President laughed.
“It’s for protection. Many people would
try to hurt me or my friends if they could,” he explained.
Lucas looked ahead to see a group of
kids waiting for the President. Most of them had matching t-shirts.
Someone came over to the President and
handed him a stack of plastic cards.
“These are the passes that will allow
any fourth grader and their family into a National Park this year,” she
explained.
The President carefully lifted Lucas
back to the ground, holding out the cards to show Lucas.
“These are going to help a lot of
families feel welcome in Yosemite, and other parks,” he explained. “I will be right back.”
The President left Lucas and went
straight towards the group of kids, waiting for him. He said a few things and
then began handing a card to each of the kids.
His wife came over to help him.
Lucy was now holding John’s hand as they
came over to Lucas.
“Why doesn’t the President have someone
else hand out the cards?” Lucy asked her dad.
John smiled.
“He knows that each one of those
children is going to remember this moment their entire life. He loves them
enough to make sure they feel special,” he explained.
“I know I’m going to remember,” Lucas
said proudly. “He makes me feel like a
friend, and we just met.”
Lucy was feeling left out a little and
was dying to meet him.
“Can we go over there?” she asked.
John held her hand a little tighter.
“You are going to have plenty of time to
talk to him. Those kids will only have these few moments to be with him,” he
explained.
As soon as the President finished, he
went right back over to Lucas and Lucy.
“You must be Lucy,” he declared.
Lucy’s mind went blank and she began to
blush.
“Yes I am,” she replied. “Are you the
President?”
Everyone started to laugh at her
question, helping her realize how silly her question was.
“I mean, it’s nice to meet you,” she
clarified.
“I was told you have great ideas,” he
told Lucy. “What idea do you have to help Yosemite?”
Lucy took a deep breath and thought of
the best idea she could give him.
“I think we need to have people take
their trash with them when they go home,” she suggested.
The President was a little surprised at
her amazing suggestion.
“I think we do too!” he replied.
The President called one of his helpers
and had him take notes.
When he was finished, he turned back
towards Lucy.
“How can we get them to do that?” he
asked her.
“Easy," Lucy replied. I bet if you
told everyone how cool it is to take the trash with them, they would,” she
explained.
“I think we can make it cool to take
home your trash,” he replied.
The President called Lucas over to stand
next to Lucy.
“Are you Jr. Ranger’s yet?” he asked.
Lucas frowned a little.
“I have been a little busy lately, but
all I have left is to pick up trash,” he replied.
The President put his finger to his
chin.
“That what I’m missing too,” he
explained.
“Are you trying to become a Jr. ranger?”
Lucy asked.
“Of course, I have been working on it
all day with my kids,” he replied.
He waived for assistance.
“Can we get some trash bags up here!” he
shouted.
Suddenly an army of people started
moving around trying to find trash bags.
“That will keep them busy until we take
a good picture of the waterfall together!” the President said with a smile.
Lucas was excited as he was invited to
stand next to the President as the President took a selfie next to Lucas and
Lucy.
Tali and John followed as the President
spent the next hour walking around with Lucas and Lucy picking up trash,
talking about many new ideas needed to help the National Parks.