Mr. President, three years ago I met you at a similar venue and told you then that I worried about you — you answered that you were worried about yourself too. You were a candidate then. I must admit that I have not stopped worrying since and that you are also getting a little too thin. This was my opening line when I asked the first question at a luncheon held for President Barack Obama on Sept. 26. He laughed and said his wife, Michelle, agreed with me. Back in 2007, two weeks after he announced his candidacy in Springfield, Ill., Obama’s first fundraiser was held by Christine Forester — a member of the National Finance Committee — in the La Jolla home of Elizabeth and Mason Phelps. And here we were again in their home. Obama remembered that event and thanked them again for opening their lovely house to us all. The luncheon was held in their large courtyard, covered by a tent with long tables seating 130 of us (I counted). Salads were waiting for us — Chinese noodles over lettuce with pepper and chicken strips catered by Elegant Gourmet. Huge, delicious cookies baked by François Goedhuys, owner of Girard Gourmet, were decorated with the Obama campaign logo — a circle with a red, white and blue rainbow. I had expected traffic congestion getting to La Jolla Village Drive and then onto La Jolla Mesa, but the roads were clear as I passed the first check-point and arrived at the second, where police on motorcycles and Secret Service agents — all in black suits — waited to look into my purse and check my ID. Golf carts took us the two blocks to the house where a dozen other early arrivals awaited the signal to enter through the large double doors into the foyer. At that third checkpoint, more security guards armed with metal detector wands checked us over, and the metal in my hip made it buzz. We waited again until the entrance to the courtyard was flung open to the rows of tables and more black suits surrounding the area. While we ate our salads, Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado — son of Susan and Steve Schutz of La Jolla — spoke to us about the sad state of education in our country. Jared is passionate about the issues facing our nation. He also addressed immigration, trade agreements, the Tea Party and several other topics. He is a wonderful spokesperson for all the things I believe in, too, and has a great political career in front of him. We had barely finished our lunches when the president arrived, straight from another such event in San Jose (looking fresh — I don’t know how he does it). His navy-blue suit was impeccable, though hopefully the seams were left large enough to make it bigger if he gains the weight back. But then, he’s the president; I guess if the suit becomes too tight, he’ll be able to afford a new one. A palpable rustle of excitement accompanied his arrival. He really does have a wonderful, contagious smile. He spoke for about twenty minutes on the expected topics (immigration, taxes and healthcare issues) but then said he preferred a discussion. As my seat at the table was a few feet from where he was standing — and I know how to wave my arm — he looked at me and said he would take the first question from the lovely young lady in front of him. I was going to say that I was neither lovely nor young nor always sure about “lady,” but asked instead about something I was truly wondering about. I assume, I said, that his staff gives him summaries of all the news media from around the world — he nodded yes — but does he also read in their original the likes of Thomas Freedman, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd and David Brooks, and if yes, what kind of impact do these columnists have on him? He said he does read them and mentioned that both Freedman and Brooks are good friends and agree with him 80 percent of the time, but that is not what they write about. Controversy is what makes headlines. Besides the expected questions regarding our national and global issues, some questions were more unique. One dealt with the idea of installing a water pipeline to go from flooded areas to draught-affected ones. He thought it would be great, but there is no money for the corps of engineers to build such a pipeline. Another question that struck me was asked by Janice Brown. She wanted to know when he would finally get “pissed off.” “Now,” he said to great applause. We also found out that his favorite drink is a martini straight up, but only on Friday and Saturday nights. His favorite movies are the first two Godfathers and he likes re-reading Shakespeare, Faulkner and Hemmingway. Although there were many more hands up for questions, he had to get on his plane for the next event in Los Angeles. We were asked to wait until he left with his motorcade. It is a special thrill to be in the presence of the president of the United States — something seems to rub off and make us feel a little bit larger, part of a tight community, part of a proud country. Especially for someone like me, an immigrant who came through Ellis Island armed with not one word of English, the fact that “I talked to the president” was, and is, awesome.