Dear Mr. Bush,

Much is being made of the inauguration of President Obama. But amidst all the celebration, I couldn’t help but think about how you must be feeling leaving office and transferring your position to another.

You served as commander in chief during one of our nation’s darkest hours. I was only 11 during the 2000 presidential election, but I was very interested. I saved newspaper articles during the recount process and kept them in a binder to show my kids when I tell them about one of the closest elections in our history.

I was 12 on September 11, 2001. I was so scared that I pretended nothing was happening. I tried to avoid the media coverage, but I could hear it blaring everywhere I went. Living in a small town in Alabama, I was nowhere near the attacks, but that didn’t keep me from feeling them. My family was supposed to go to an Atlanta Braves baseball game the next day, but of course all major gatherings were cancelled. So were airline flights. I remember how weird it was not to see or hear any planes.

I never would have guessed that more than seven years later, we would not have experienced another attack on our soil. But I do recall that American flags were everywhere. Suddenly, people who before had been against mentioning God were calling to him for help. For a brief time, our nation really came together. We remembered that we are all Americans.

In 2007, my family spent a week in Washington, D.C., and we absolutely loved it. One day we visited the White House. As we were walking down the hall, a security guard told my dad to look out the window. A Marine helicopter had been sitting on the lawn and just then we saw the soldier next to it salute, and suddenly you came into view. We all started screaming, “There he is! That’s the president!” When you boarded the chopper, you turned to give a wave.

I turned 18 the summer of 2007, so when the primaries rolled around, I registered to vote and did my homework on the candidates. I felt so ­satisfied after I cast my ballot, and I couldn’t imagine why people would not take ­advantage of the opportunity to choose our leaders. As the general election approached, I pored over newspaper articles and watched the debates on TV. I even dressed like Sarah Palin for Halloween, which was a lot of fun. It was interesting to see people’s reactions – both positive and negative.

In closing, sir, I would like to thank you for serving our nation, and for holding the U.S. together ­during the worst attack on our soil, two wars, and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. It was no mistake that you were elected as our president, even though Al Gore actually won the popular vote. I think you were the man our country needed. And now, as we rally behind our new president and prepare to face whatever comes, I want to say, God bless you, George W. Bush. And God bless America.