Your Invitation

Dear President-Elect Obama,

Thank you for the invitation to your inauguration. No doubt it will be the event of the year, a historic event that the world will be watching. Unfortunately, we cannot attend. We send our sincere regrets.

We'll be watching from afar – Austin, Texas, to be exact.

One of the reasons we cannot attend in person is that I'm now 30 weeks pregnant, preparing for our first baby. He will be born within the first few months of your administration. My husband and I are hopeful for his future, and we believe that active, involved and informed parents can raise a smart, engaged and informed future leader.

Under your leadership, and in partnership with the many leaders in our country, we hope that we can stabilize our economy, make real progress to provide health care for all Americans, improve the education system (especially in the State of Texas), improve our relationships with countries around the world, choose our battles more carefully, literally, and make the environment a top priority, to name a few of our many hopes for the next four years, and beyond.

Have a great day, Mr. President. It will be a great day for all of us.