Mother’s Day Tea with the First Lady

This was an amazing end to a wonderful week! I wrapped up the Military Spouse Magazine Awards Luncheon Thursday afternoon and immediately flew home (I had to pick up my best friend in NC). The next morning we hopped in my car and drove back to Washington DC around 6am. I arrived around 12 noon, we parked at the National Press Building, and walked two blocks over to the SE entrance to the White House complex.

When my guest and I got to the Southeast entrance and met a few Gold Star Mothers and Wives who had lost their husbands from WWII, Vietnam, Korea and Desert Storm. That expience was sad, but it was also awesome to see these strong women who were carrying on the memories of their loved ones. They are not forgotten.

Then I saw 3 members of Army Wives cast (Roxy, Pamela and Roland), and they walked over to us. It was so SURREAL. Roland walked right over to us and I introduced myself to him. He gave me a hug and congratulated me, and so I asked if I could get a picture with him. Then I asked if he could introduce me to Roxy and Pamela! Totally cool, so he introduced me to Pamela (Brigid). She said she read my nomination letter that my husband wrote to Military Spouse Magazine. I was totally floored by that statement! WOW she read about me. That was the highlight right there for me.

You may ask how was I so lucky to get invited to have Tea with the First Lady. I was invited by Blue Star Families to attend the White House Mother’s Day Tea. I invited my best friend from High School Tameka. We waited outside for about a hour. Then it was time for us to enter, so we went through the back. We walked through the East Wing entrance. Up the stairs and then we entered into the room where they had drinks waiting for us. They also told us it was ok for us to walk around and take pictures! We got to sit on the furniture, tour the Green, Red, Yellow and Blue Rooms. Then they announced that the greeting line was starting. So we lined up, and I was in the front at the breaking point, where the First Lady came right out in front of me and crossed into another room. So we got in line to greet her.

There were mom’s and spouses from all over the United States. I got to meet more Gold Star Moms, Gold Star Wives, and active duty spouses - women from as young as 8 to as old as 88. It was super nice to see all these women. We all had something in common - the military.

The lined moved fairly quick. I got to shake hands with Mrs. Obama first, and she actually remembered me from the Camp Lejeune visit. She also remembered I was the Army Spouse of the Year 2011 by Military Spouse Magazine. She was really nice in person and then I met Dr. Jill Biden. This was my first time meeting Dr. Biden. I thanked them for their support and moved on.

So we got to the room where we had our tea, and we sat at table 8. Dr. Biden’s chief of staff (Mrs. Russell) was our table hostess. She was super nice. Mrs. Shinseki greeted Tameka and me, and she was super sweet. She walked us to the table, and we sat down and ate our tea sandwiches. Then Mrs. Shinseki, introduced Dr. Biden, who introduced Mrs. Obama. They all spoke about 10 minutes each.

It was super awesome way to wrap up my week in Washington, DC. If you want to see pictures, I invite you to go to Facebook and search for 2011 Army Spouse of the Year and like my page, and you will find my pictures!

Until next time!

Cris