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Chicago woman carries life-sized Obama cutout everywhere she goes

She says the lesson is to listen to each other, because we may have more in common than we think.
Woman carries life-sized Obama cutout everywhere she goes

Chicago, Illinois (WGN) -- Thursday, January 19 was Barack Obama's last full day as president of the United States.
A Chicago woman is such a big fan of his, she's spent the last four months taking him everywhere she goes.

Ximena Larkin was one of the millions of Chicagoans who was moved by Barack Obama's message of hope, change and believing that anything was possible.

In 2012, she wrote an op-ed for the Sun-Times and carried it around in her pocket, hoping to meet the president and deliver her message in person one day.

In 2016, as Obama was nearing the end of his presidency, Ximena still hadn't been able to shake his hand. If she couldn't stand next to the living and breathing president -- she decided to do the next best thing -- purchase a life-size cutout of him.

That's right -- she purchased a life-size cardboard cutout of President Obama and she took him with her everywhere she went. She called it "Baracking Around."

Over the last few months, Ximena and the cardboard president have traveled all over the country -- meeting all kinds of people along the way.

Ximena started this journey with hopes of meeting her favorite president. Instead, she met hundreds of strangers who shared personal stories.

She even connected with people who don't share the president's politics. She says the lesson is to listen to each other, because we may have more in common than we think.

See all her "Baracking Around" photos at: www.instagram.com/ximenalarkin/

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