On one sunny day in 1980s my family went to Plains, Ga. and to our surprise we found that President Jimmy Carter was going to run in a 6K run there.

At this time, several  years before, I had been an avid runner. I had just run in a Marine Corps half marathon [as a civilian] so I was delighted to join in the Plains run.

In the run the President was about 12 feet ahead of me; and there were Secret Service Agents around him.

I never did catch up with him. After the run I wanted to have my picture with him. However, that changed. My son, David (4 years old at the time) was close by us and all of a sudden President Jimmy Carter wanted a picture with David.

Later, I thought it would be wonderful if President Jimmy Carter would sign the picture and he did sign the picture. We framed it and recently presented it to David and his family.

It was wonderful to experience this occasion – the run, my family, Plains, and President Carter’s kindness in signing the picture.

Jerry Harrington, Valdosta