The 46-year-old wife of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said she still cannot believe that she’s been to the White House more than once.
There, she met President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush and, last January, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
“It’s all like a dream,” said Mrs. Fitial. “Sometimes I still can’t believe I’ve been to the White House. Of course, who wouldn’t be proud meeting U.S. presidents in person?”
Fresh from college, Mrs. Fitial, who came from a poor family in Nueva Ecija, a province north of Manila, came to Saipan in 1983 and worked as a waitress.
As the eldest child, Mrs. Fitial said it was expected of her to send money for her three younger siblings.
As fate would have it, it was on Saipan where she met her future husband.
She described the governor as a good provider, a generous and loving husband and father.
During Obama’s inauguration in January, the governor attended the ceremony in the nation’s capital with his wife.
Mrs. Fitial said she wore the same dress she had during the governor’s inauguration in Jan. 2006.
When their time to meet the president came, Mrs. Fitial said Obama asked her where she’s from.
She told him she’s from the Northern Marianas but originally from the Philippines.
She said the Obamas warmly welcomed during the dinner reception at the White House.
The governor said the president even gave him the “hang loose sign.”
Mrs. Fitial described former President George W. Bush as the chatty type with a good memory.
“The next time we met at the White House, he still knew my name,” she said.
As for former first lady Laura Bush, Mrs. Fitial said: “She’s very down-to-earth. A people person.”
Mrs. Fitial said she remains the same person she was while still struggling to earn a living for her family.
“Life is like a wheel. Sometimes you’re up. Sometimes you’re down. So I don’t discriminate and judge people [based on their background],” she said.
