Document text
White House features Medford woman's letter Joelle Graves of Medford holds a photo of her mother-in-law, a young Peggy Graves, whose story of overcoming bigotry was chronicled in a letter Joelle wrote and sent to President Obama. Joelle's letter was one of 10 posted online by the White House as part of a review of the last eight years. Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta Monday Jan 2, 2017 at 5:44 PM Jan 3, 2017 at 7:08 AM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman In her last few months before her death, Peggy Graves of Ashland and her daughter-in-law Joelle Graves of Medford began to grow close, and the pair one day had what the younger Graves considered to be an unexpected conversation. Joelle asked Peggy what was her proudest accomplishment. Joelle never expected the response she got from a woman who lived her whole life as a staunch Republican in a house where the N-word was part of the lexicon. Peggy was proudest to have supported Barack Obama in his historic 2008 presidential victory. "It was such a sweet and unexpected story," Joelle recalls. "I never expected her to tell me it was to cast a vote for the first black president of the United States. "I could tell by the glitter in her eye that she knew I'd be amazed," Joelle says. Turns out, so was Obama, his White House staff and even his family. Joelle's September letter to Obama about that 2009 conversation not only made it all the way to the president's hands, but became one of 10 letters the Obama administration published Saturday in its review of the past eight years through public correspondence. Joelle says she wrote and sent the letter, which details past family racial bigotry that her mother-in-law overcame in her latter day, because she believed Obama deserved to hear how at least this sliver of America had grown during his time in office. "When I started sharing that story with friends and family, many were moved by the fact that a woman in her 90s had changed and that other people can change, too," Joelle says. "I just wanted him to know about one little old lady who changed her mind." Graves' letter and nine others can be seen at http://ow.ly/E0sP307CUtE. Obama has had a regular relationship with Americans who pen him an average of about 65,000 paper letters each week that are read and sorted by a team in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. A handful of letters works its way through the White House food chain, and Obama Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett picks 10 letters for Obama to read daily, something he says he's done since taking office in 2009. Joelle received a telephone call in October from the White House saying her letter was chosen for a daily presidential read. "I picked up the phone and they said, "It's the White House," and I'm like, yeah, sure it is," Joelle says with a laugh. In ensuing telephone calls and emails, Joelle learned that the letter was read by most White House staffers and a copy even went home to the First Family, Joelle says. Recently, she was informed that it was tapped for the 10 looking-back letters released Saturday on Facebook and Twitter. "It's been quite the process," she says. "It's been thrilling." Joelle's letter might find its way into Obama's future presidential library. The White House also emailed a copy of a thank-you note heading her way in snail mail from Obama, who called the letter "beautiful" and that it meant a lot to him. "I'm just sorry I never had the chance to thank your mom for her vote," Obama wrote. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.