Wow!   I’ve been invited to the White House and told I have to be there in two weeks. 

This is going to be the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

     The twins, Marty and Mary, are very happy about this because they can take me around Washington.  It will be great seeing the big houses and seeing Washington, too.  The twins are my age, 17, so it will be fun.  We’ll see the Lincoln Memorial and then wherever the twins want to take me. 

      Now I better get all my clothes together for my trip.  It should be nice and warm in Washington and the cherry trees should be blooming.  That will be fun seeing the cherry trees in bloom. Oh, I can hardly wait.

     Well, here I am in Washington.  It didn’t take long to fly here and those two must be the twins.  “Hi, Marty and Mary,” I said.  “I’m just so excited to be here.”

     “Hi, Carol,” they both said at the same time and we all laughed.

     This was going to be one great trip.  I waited for my luggage while the girls talked with me and Marty said she had a boyfriend but Mary said, “Well, I sure don’t.  I want to go to college first.”

     Marty said, “How about you, Carol, do you have a boyfriend?”

     I laughed and said, “No I don’t.  Like Mary, I want to go to college first.”

     Marty said, “Oh, you girls.  Why don’t you want to have a boyfriend?”

     Mary and I said, at the same time, “Because I don’t.”

     Marty looked confused as we both laughed.  Mary said, “You can have all the boyfriends you’d like.  I’m just going to wait until I’m in college.”

     I said, “You know, Marty, if your boyfriend wants to, he can cheat on you while your

away.”

     Mary said, “That’s right, Marty.  He’ll cheat with every girl there is, so let’s just drop that subject, okay?”

     I was beginning to see Mary was the more mature one of the two, so I said, “Where are we going to first, girls?”

     “We thought we’d just go home today,” Mary said.  “That way, we can be gone all day tomorrow.”

     “That will be all right by me,” I said.  “I am tired out from waiting at the air port and everything.  I’d just as soon go home.”

     The body guards took us home and the girl’s mother and father hurried out to meet us.  What a lovely time we were going to have.  I just gazed at the White House and wondered how anything so big could be taken care of just by these two.  When we got inside, I found out different and I was meeting so many people, I knew I’d never remember their names.

     Mary said, “We’ll take Carol up to her room so she can freshen up before lunch.”

     “That’s a good idea,” Mrs. Sherer said.  “That will give us time to get lunch ready.”

     So upstairs we went.  The girls showed me my room and it was huge.  I said, “I’m going to be sleeping in this room all by myself?”

     They laughed and said, yes, then they left so I could put my stuff away.  Oh, that bed sure looked good right now, but I knew I better not sit down.  I went into the bathroom and couldn’t believe my eyes.  I thought the bedroom was huge, but I’ll bet the bathroom was half as large as the bedroom.  I really looked at everything and I loved this room, too.  I changed clothes and went out into the entry way.  Mary was waiting for me and said, “Marty went down to help set up lunch.  I waited for you, hope you don’t mind?”

     “No Mary,” I said, “I don’t mind you waiting for me.  I am starved, though.”

     I looked out over the entrance and the dinning area and I thought, ‘this is really special.  I couldn’t wait until I seen the rest of the house.  We went into the kitchen and there was Marty helping set up the table.  Oh, it all smelled so good.  We all sat down to the table and Mr. Sherer said, “I’ll say a prayer before we begin,” and everyone bowed their heads.

     After Mr. Sherer said the blessing, we all dug into the meal.  It was magnificent how Mrs. Sherer had managed to make such a beautiful lunch, then said, “Be sure to eat enough, because dinner won’t be until seven p.m. tonight.”

     When we were through eating, Mrs. Sherer said, “Now, are you sure you don’t want anything else.  There are still things left to eat.”

     We all patted out stomachs and said, no, then I offered to help do up the dishes.  Mrs. Sherer said, “No, you go with the girls while Nancy and Eve come in and take care of this all.  Now go on.”

     So we three hurried away into an existing room.  Marty explained that this was the ‘fun’ room.  There were all types of table games and a big table where you could play board games.  It was truly fantastic.  Before you knew it Mrs. Sherer came and told us it was dinner time.  We’d been playing different games for over four hours.  Mary and I looked around and Marty wasn’t there, so we asked where she was.  “She’s been helping out in the kitchen,” Mrs. Sherer said.  “Now come on, we’ll eat a very good dinner and then you can come back in here and play some more.”

     As we hurried to the table, a little dog came running out to meet us.  Mrs. Sherer said,  “Oh, now who left her out of her pen?  Mary will you please lock her up again?” and Mary scooped the dog up and ran out of the room.  “I’m sorry, but we never let the dog out while we eat.  She’d be prying into every ones plates, wanting a handout.”

     After Mary returned, washed her hands and sat down at the table, Mr. Sherer said grace again and then we ate.  All I can say is, ‘I hope we don’t eat like this everyday because I’d sure put on the pounds if we did.’  Dinner was great and then Marty and Mary showed me the rest of the house.  I couldn’t believe how large the rooms were.  I felt so small in comparison to how large they really were.  Soon I was yawning and Mary said, “Well, I guess it must be bedtime, Carol’s yawning,” and she laughed.

     “Yes,” I said, “I guess I really am tired out.  I do think I’d like to go to bed now.”

     “Okay,” Marty said.  They took me upstairs and we said goodnight at my door.  I went inside and got ready for bed and by the time I hit that big pile of pillows, I was asleep.  Suddenly there was a knock on my door and I jumped out of bed wondering who was knocking.  I opened the door and there stood Mary asking if I was ready to go downstairs to eat.  I said, “My gosh, what time is it?”

     Mary laughed and said, “It is only seven o’clock but we want to be gone by eight.  So hurry and get ready.  We’ll wear slacks today.  I’ll wait on the steps.’

     So I hurried and got ready and Mary and I went down to eat with the rest of the family and then we took off.  It was a great day, so beautiful out and so sunny, that we enjoyed ourselves just great.

     First we went to the Lincoln Memorial which was so beautiful that I just stood and looked at it.  Mr. Lincoln was a huge figure and he just dominated everything.  It was great seeing this big figure and not being able to talk with it, that it was overpowering.  I didn’t think I’d have enough film in my camera for all the pictures I wanted to take.

     We seen so many beautiful things that day, that I seemed to become lost.  I told the girl’s that I just couldn’t remember everything we seen, in what order.  Mary showed me paper and said she had been writing it all down for me.  I was so happy, that I hugged her and said, “Oh Mary, that’s great.  I wouldn’t of remembered all this for anything.”

     We ate lunch at a very cozy little restraint and I was beginning to be tired but Marty said, “This won’t be a surprise, but we are going to the Mall, now.  Do you ever go to the mall?”

     “Yes, I go to the Mall once in awhile,” I said.  “It is a little place with eight stores and a restraint in it.”

     Marty laughed and said, “Well, be prepared.  This is a lot bigger than that.”

     She was right; it was more like 25 stores with three restraints in it.  We took the rest of the afternoon in there and I bought a few things to take home.  Mary said, “Well, I guess it is time we went back home.  Dinner will be almost ready.”

     “Yes, I guess we better go home,” Marty said.  “It is getting late.”

     “Well, I guess we’d better get home.  Your folks will come looking for us,” I said and looked at my watch, it was five o’clock.  “My gosh, I didn’t think it was this late already.”

      “Time goes fast when you’ve got so much to look at,” Marty said as we headed for home.  I’ll bet those guards sure were happy to get home, too.

     Everyday we had someplace to go and it was a lot of fun.  I don’t believe I’ve ever been so tired out that I thought it would be fun to get home.  But when Friday came, I was very happy and when Mary asked me where I’d like to go, I said, “Oh gosh, no place.  Let’s just stay at home and do things.”

     Mary clapped her hands and said, “This is great.  Now I can beat you playing Crab,” and we headed off to the game room.

     Mary and I played Crab while Marty was looking at magazines.  Then her mother came in to let us know lunch was ready.  “Mrs. Sherer, I want you to know how much fun this has been for me,” I said.  “I never thought I’d get to be in the White House.  It’s been great.”

     Mrs. Sherer said, “After lunch, there is one place I’d like you to see.  Bring your camera.”

     After a great lunch, Mrs. Sherer took us to a big double doorway.  Mrs. Sherer said, “Now I want you to be very happy when you see this,” and she said I should close my eyes.  I did and she opened the door.  She took my hand and walked me into the room, then said to open my eyes.

     What a big surprise.  There was Mr. Sherer and the whole staff with a big cake.  Well, I couldn’t have been happier if I’d of known what was coming.  There were tears in my eyes and Mary was taking pictures, I couldn’t see to do it.  A large pretty cake wasn’t all; there were many presents, too.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

     We all sat down and then Nancy cut the cake and Eve passed it around, then they ate, too.  After we were through with the cake, Mrs. Sherer said, “Now I believe it is time for all the presents.  We wanted your trip to be great and unforgettable.

      After opening the presents, I didn’t know what to do.  There were so many great gifts that I just couldn’t understand it.  Why would they do this for me?

     Then Mrs. Sherer said, “Now that you’ve got all your goodies, I believe it’s time for you to give us something of yours.  Please, sing us your favorite song.

     I didn’t know if I could or not but I started out singing and then they all joined in.  It was a great evening and I hated to go to bed, but I knew I had too so I could get to the plane tomorrow.  We all said our goodnights and went to bed.  I was so happy that I didn’t think I’d ever get to sleep, but once I hit those pillows, I was gone, sleeping like a baby.  At seven the next morning, Mary knocked on the door and said, “It’s time to get up.  We have to be at the plane by ten o’clock.”

     “Okay, Mary.  I’m up,” I said, then went to get ready.

     We had a very good breakfast and then I finished packing.  We got to the plain at ten o’clock, so had some time to wait.  At 10:45 the plane was announced and I had to leave.  We said our good byes and I was on my way home.  A very good and great time it was to have been away from home for a week.  Now I can finish school this year, and be happy that I had spent a great week in the White House.