Day 26

I wrangled the bales by myself. Not a big deal. Hope they are in their final place because it rained hard all night and they will be heavier now. Wednesday I can begin to add the amendments and get the process started. Today is the first meeting of the new writers group. I hope they are a compatible bunch. Carol asked me to find people and I did. I have the first prompt ready: What person do you admire and why.

I admire Michelle Obama for the way she used her position to promote nutrition and exercise for children. Her predecessors have chosen new china patterns, painted room and redecorated public spaces in the White House but Michelle will leave a legacy that lasts forever. Michelle had a position Chicago as a hospital administrator, a job she did competently. She didn’t want her husband to run for the presidency but supported him through the tough campaigns.  I like that she has sheltered her children and brought her mother with the family so the girls have a stable life in spite of travel, meetings, and other events that take the parents away. The girls are included in some visits to foreign countries when it is appropriate. I read an article that said the programs to emphasis diet and exercise had substantially brought down the percentage of child hood obesity.

There is a program on the food network hosted by Robert called Restaurant impossible where he changes kitchens and management to improve the business. Michelle invited him to a child care center in the darkest and poorest part of DC. Two volunteers fixed meals in a home style kitchen and had to feed the children outside. Robert took down walls, built a big kitchen and dining room and invited her to lunch with the children. Wonderful, she said, but there’s more. She asked Robert to build a garden and he did with the help of gardeners. They showed the kids how to grow vegetables and tend the gardens.

So, for her attention to children, I admire Michelle Obama.