2001 Newsletters
A Visit to the Oval Office
Jul 29th, 2001Erik and Ellie Weihenmayer and The Everest Team Congratulated By The President
Only in America
by Ed Weihenmayer
On May 25, after 48 days on the mountain, my son Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He was joined by 18 others on his team, including the oldest man to set foot on the top of the world, the first American father-son duo, and 8 sherpas. This was the most climbers from a single team to summit Everest in a single day. The media has already referred to them as "the greatest team that ever climbed on Everest."
The night before their final push to the summit, from Camp 4 at 26,000', my son was privileged to talk to President Bush, who wished the team a safe and successful climb to the top. Then, last Thursday, six weeks after everyone had returned home healthy, with all their fingers and all their toes intact, they were honored to be standing in the Oval Office, one by one receiving a handshake and the personal congratulations from the President of the United States.
Here we stood in the most famous office in the world. The President was telling us that the picture of Lincoln was special to him, because he felt the job of every president is to unite the country. He pointed out a painting about a sunrise, sharing its special meaning to him: that from a sunrise we look forward, with optimism, and it reminded him daily that a president's role is to lead the way, to be looking to the future. The President spoke about his great pride in representing our country, each day, not knowing how long that was going to last, but simply wanting to do it as well as he could every day along the way.
Except for the summiting of Everest, we were a group of pretty ordinary Americans - two doctors and a physicians assistant, a teacher and a motivational speaker, an oil explorer and an architect, two filmmakers and two photographers, and five people who make their livelihoods on big mountains. No one was famous, but they had come together to form an extraordinary team. And the man who most would say is in the most powerful position as leader of the free world was graciously sharing his innermost thoughts with us, laughing with us, asking about the Everest experience, having pictures taken with us, enjoying himself. It was the incongruity of it all which struck me, except that this is America, a very special nation. And the country through its President was paying tribute to a team of ordinary people who had worked together selflessly to achieve a spectacular result.
Kami Tenjing, the lead sherpa of this Everest expedition, happened to be in the U.S. and was invited to join us for our visit. It was his experience which magnified my own emotional reaction. The sherpa from the mountains of the small country of Nepal entered the Oval Office, bowed slightly, and was greeted warmly by the President. Respectfully, he placed a traditional Nepalese scarf around the neck of the President. Near the end of the visit, the President called him up to have a picture taken ... not only a great honor for him, but a great honor for the whole country of Nepal. Our country's respect for each individual, big or small, famous or ordinary, even citizen or foreigner, was evident in the President's kind gesture. This is how America is supposed to work, and does, in its finest hours.
All the while I was thinking, only in America could this happen. We have our discord, and we have our tragedies, and we make mistakes, but America's heart is good, and we are a great nation. How lucky we are to live here!
For Speaking Engagements: Ed Weihenmayer at 904/321-1938 or tigertops@net-magic.net
For Corporate Events: Leading Authorities at 202/783-0300 0r www.leadingauthorities.com
For Media: Virginia Remmey, Cohn & Wolfe at 212/798-9511
Erik's Website: www.highsightspresentations.com or www.touchthetop.com
Everest Website: www.2001everest.com
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