Friday, January 25, 2013

I Went to President Obama's Second Inauguration!

Actually, I went to the first one in 2009, too...so it made sense to go to this one as well. :) (Update: Here is a link to a more detailed summary of our visit.)

I met a Washington Post journalist (John Kelly), pictured here with me, while we were waiting for the inauguration parade in DC on Monday. Mr. Kelly was very nice and we spoke about a lot of things, and I’m absolutely tickled to be included in the WaPo article: “Obama’s Second Act Draws a Smaller But Spirited Crowd”

The portion about me and my husband, Mike, is on page 3. I’ll just paste it here in case you don’t have time to read the whole article; although the entire piece is very good, so I hope you’ll try to get over to the WaPo website and read it.

------- from the Wahington Post --------
Others were just happy to be there.

Monday was Cindy Johns’s 54th birthday.

Two weeks ago Johns was finishing up her final round of chemotherapy. She’d lost her hair and was prone to “chemo brain,” the fuzzy fog that envelops cancer patients, she said.

But she knew exactly where she wanted to be on Jan. 21 — in Washington for the inauguration.

“She got some wigs so she could come out,” said her husband, Mike Johns, 52.

The Johnses live in Ohio. He works in a factory that builds Whirlpool appliances, and she has an online company designing greeting cards.

She said she likes Obama’s approach to solving problems, and his quick mind. “I think he’s going to end up the greatest president this country’s ever had,” she said. “I know an awful lot of people don’t believe that.”

Last Wednesday, Cindy Johns’s doctor said she appears to have beaten her cancer — her second bout in 15 years. The Johnses divided their drive into two, stopping to see their daughter in Pittsburgh.

Cindy Johns is still weak, and she used a cane and a wheelchair that she occasionally sank into at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW while waiting for the parade.

“Nothing could stop me from being here,” she said.
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