The Foreign Service Journal, November 2010

I t all started one day on the way back from school. My driver, Desmond, asked me if I wanted Nelson Mandela’s name in my book. I had just started reading Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela by Bill Keller. Why wouldn’t I? When I got home I told my mom about what Desmond said. She said that I could take my book with a pen and go with Desmond down to Nelson Mandela’s house, one street away. When we got to the house, there were big guys in uniforms. They did not let Desmond in, but they did let me in. When I got in, they showed me to a lady. She said that I was so cute, and she let me in. She also said that “this is a once-in-a- lifetime chance.” When I got to the room where he was, he was eat- ing lunch: chicken and veg- etables. Mr. Mandela was wearing one of those fancy shirts he wears. I asked him to sign my book. He did, but first he gave me a big hug! Then he gave me some more hugs. Then he askedme what I want to be when I grow up. I said I wanted to be like him. Everybody laughed. He had a really deep voice and a nice laugh. He wrote his last name in the book in cursive. He wrote the date, 19 08 08, and he drew a heart on the side. Then the lady brought me back to Desmond. On the way home, I told him about what had happened. He was really happy that Nelson Mandela was there, and so was I. When I got home I tried to tell my mom, but she was on the phone with her best friend Annie. When she got off the phone an hour later, I told her what had happened. She screamed! She called my dad the minute I told her. I knew I had something special there, that I would never forget. ■ Shira Glassman, the daughter of FSO Jeffrey Glassman, wrote this essay when she was 8 years old during the family’s posting in Cape Town. Now 10, Shira is a fifth-grader at the Jewish Primary Day School. A painter, she was the Foreign Service Youth Foun- dation’s 2007 “Artist of the Year.” She also plays the drums. Shira lives in Washington, D.C., with her father, her mother, Elana, and brothers, Sammy (8) and Moses (5). Mr. Mandela was wearing one of those fancy shirts he wears. 76 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 R EFLECTIONS Nelson Mandela and Me B Y S HIRA G LASSMAN Eight-year-old Shira Glassman met Nelson Mandela in Capetown and he signed her book.