Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images
For: EFE
Thursday, November 14
Joe and Jill Biden visit a children's hospital on Christmas Eve
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden , visited this Friday the day of Christmas Eve to a children’s hospital to encourage children who have not been able to return home in Christmas.
It is tradition that the first ladies visit the National Hospital for Children in Washington during the holidays, but Biden’s presence took patients, their families and medical staff by surprise.
This is the first time in history that a US president has joined this Christmas tradition , the White House explained to the press.
This morning, the First Lady and I stopped by the Children’s National Hospital to spread a little holiday cheer. We hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. pic.twitter.com/5eBIDRgptp
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 18, 2021
Upon arrival, the presidential couple entered a room where a group of children, including one in a wheelchair, were spread out at three tables doing crafts.
“Hi, how are you?”, Biden greeted the little boy in a wheelchair , which His name is Samuel. The president stopped to talk with other children, bending down and reviewing their drawings and crafts.
One of the little ones said his name was Beau and immediately Biden explained that this is the same name as one of his grandchildren and who had his son, who died in 2015 when he was 46 years for a brain tumor.
Meanwhile, the first lady told another little one that there is now a new mascot in the White House: a puppy of the German shepherd breed called Commander.
“This morning she was eating my slippers,” joked Jill, who has been a teacher for over 40 years and currently continues to teach at a college of higher education in Alexandria (Virginia), near Washington.
After talking with children, the presidential couple climbed onto a stage with a red floor and sat under a huge Christmas tree, at whose feet were crowded various gifts.
The first lady read the children’s book “Olaf’s icy night before Christmas” (Frozen Olaf’s Night Before Christmas), starring Olaf, an innocent and friendly summer-loving snowman who first appeared in the feature film “Frozen, the kingdom of ice” (2013).
As Jill Biden read the story, the children were sitting on the floor listening to her.
The tradition that leads first ladies to visit the National Children’s Hospital in Washington began with Bess Truman, the wife of Harry S. Truman (1945 – 1953), who also read a book to the little ones.
Joe and Jill Biden will spend their first Christmas as President and First Lady in the White House and will leave the tradition of going to the US Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, something they had been doing with the rest of their family since 2008.
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