The recent White House state dinner for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau featured the usual dignitaries and celebrities — as well as a Las Vegas grandmother who used the mail to earn a spot on the guest list.
Twila Legare, 60, wrote to President Obama last year to share her thoughts on higher education.
To Legare’s surprise, the president responded by inviting her and her husband to the state dinner.
“It wasn’t overwhelming, it was just so awesome. My husband and I just never dreamed that something like this would happen,” Legare told the Toronto Star.
The president reads 10 letters a day, according to NPR, which also interviewed Legare. Her letter and another by a Texas fourth-grader are among the few that have resulted in invitations to the White House.
Legare told the Star she didn’t feel out of place rubbing elbows with VIPs like Michael J. Fox and Mike Myers because everyone was excited to be there.
Her husband Marc, who is from Montreal, even spoke French with Trudeau.
“They just hit it off right away,” she said.