Friday Letters: The Obama Edition

Today I'm taking my virtual fountain pen in hand to write a few Friday letters. Stephen Colbert's Late Show is ending on May 21, and I will miss him, a lot. Barack Obama (another person I miss quite a bit) recently invited Colbert to his Presidential Center in Chicago, and Tuesday’s episode felt like a gift: two well-spoken, thoughtful, funny, humble men in conversation. It moved me to tears more than once, so it seemed only fitting to write them both a few Friday letters.

 

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Dear Obama,

Your Presidential Center is both amazing and inspiring, just like you. I didn't previously have any plans to visit Chicago, but I think this is a trip I need to make someday. The five-foot high letters, from your 2015 Selma Anniversary speech, wrapping around the outside of the building, provided the first opportunity for me to shed a few tears. 

“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”

Thank you for these words of hope,

Bonny, who is cautiously hopeful

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Hey Obama, 

It's just me again. I want to applaud you for the diversity and variety of everything you've included on the 19 acre campus of your Presidential Center. The Museum, Forum, Home Court, branch of the Chicago Public Library, John Lewis Plaza, Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, a playground, the Great Lawn which includes a sledding hill, and so much more makes this a place that I could easily envision spending a week or more. There is truly something for everyone.

I think you may be right in predicting that Michelle's dresses will be very popular, but Bo and Sunny are pretty appealing, too. I wonder if yours is the only Presidential Library to include dogs' water bowls and chew toys?

I would love to see your Nobel prize as well,

Bonny, an admirer of you and much of your stuff

 

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Dear Stephen and Obama,

I want to thank you for your recent show, tour of the Obama Presidential Center, and being yourselves. The questions, answers, humor, discussion about aliens, and wastepaper basketball were just what I needed. I have a feeling that shiny gold trophy you presented to Obama might become highly coveted, so I hope it’s being kept under close watch.

Thank you for everything you've both given us,

Bonny, an ardent admirer

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Wishing you all a wonderful and hopeful weekend.  

Unraveled Wednesday: 5/6/26

I’m happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today with a slow start on some duplicate stitch animals and a close to completed Dream Hitchhiker.

I started the duplicate stitching with the deer and it went fairly well. I did discover that despite making a list and checking it twice, I had not ordered the black (or asphalt heather as Knitpicks calls it) used for eyes, nose, and outlining the ears. It should get here sometime this week, so then I'll use it to stitch the deer details.  

I started stitching the raccoon but it turned out I was mistakenly reading the badger chart. What you see above is me removing the badger stitches, being really careful not to clip any brown hat stitches. 

I accomplished that successfully and what you see above is the result of me  checking and rechecking multiple times and doing the first three stitches for the raccoon. I've stopped here, and will recheck several more times before I stitch any more on the raccoon.

But I've been using the time that I'm not duplicate stitching to knit on the Dream Hitchhiker. We've had quite a few cool days, so I welcome the warmth of it on my lap. It looks much the same, just a lot more teeth. I've got 54 teeth which is probably plenty. I've been debating how I want to finish it - bind off after the yo row, do a couple more plain garter stitch rows, or maybe even do those plain garter stitch rows in another color. I've got some of the same yarn in a light gray, but I can't decide if that would look weird or not. If you have any thoughts about the finish, I'd love to hear them. 

I'm reading an ARC, rereading Good People, and relistening to The Things We Never Say but haven't finished anything, so no book reviews this week.   

What are you making and reading this first Wednesday in May? 

Read With Us: Good People

 

If you’re in the mood for a novel that lingers and is quite discussable, I think our next Read With Us pick is worth your time.

Good People by Patmeena Sabit is the kind of story that invites you to look closer: at relationships, at choices, and at the stories we tell ourselves about being “good.” It opens in an unassuming way, but don’t be fooled; there’s an undercurrent here that builds into something deeply thought-provoking.

What makes this a great book for Read With Us? It’s layered without being inaccessible, emotional without being overdone, and full of those moments that make you pause and think, “What would I do in that situation?” The characters feel real, flawed, complicated, and impossible to fully judge, which means our discussion is bound to be lively.

Expect:

• Moral gray areas that spark debate
• Subtle tension that builds as you read
• Characters you may or may not agree with, but won’t forget

I'll keep this one spoiler-free for now, but come ready to unpack motivations, question assumptions, and maybe even challenge your own definition of what it means to be a “good person.”

Part of why this book is so good is that Patmeena Sabit is an Afghan American writer whose work is shaped by her own cross-cultural experience. Born in Kabul shortly after the Soviet invasion, she and her family fled to Pakistan as refugees before eventually settling in the United States, where she grew up in Virginia; she now lives in Toronto. Good People draws on themes of immigration, identity, and community, reflecting the complex intersections of cultures that have influenced her life and writing. 

The hardcover and audiobook versions have manageable hold queues at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. I started listening to the audiobook, but decided that I also needed to read it with my eyes, so I bought the Kindle version for $13.99.  

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information (but not too much!), and doing promotional posts throughout April and May. Discussion day for Good People is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion.

I do hope you'll Read With Us, and I really hope you'll also Discuss With Us!