Mountain Brook family attends inauguration

Of the many faces in the crowd at the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, four of them belonged to the Maldia family. And it was all thanks to their daughter, Isabella. 

After doing some research on the election and the inauguration process, Isabella learned that to attend inauguration, she had to write a letter to her senators to request tickets. "She asked me, 'If I write to the senators and asked for inauguration tickets, do you think we'd be able to go?'" said her mother, Pam Maldia. "I thought, what are the odds, you know?"

Isabella, an eighth grader at The Altamont School, wrote to her senators during the summer before the election was over and explained why she wanted to go. Pam Maldia said that she was very sincere about why the inauguration was important to her and that she wanted to see the change of power in person, and included a photo of a cake she was given not long ago with "Future POTUS" written on it. 

Then they got a call from Sen. Richard Shelby's office, saying they had four tickets – one each for Pam and her husband Mark Maldia, and their two children, Isabella and Frederic – waiting for them at his office for inauguration.

Because the tickets could only be picked up in person, the Maldias flew up to Washington D.C. a few days early and went to Shelby's office the day before inauguration.

"They said when they read Isabella's letter, they knew they had to give her tickets," Pam Maldia said, and after a while they had to shut down the system to request tickets because they were getting so many requests.

After picking up their tickets, the Maldias ran into Sen. Jeff Sessions, ventured through Washington D.C. to explore and stumbled upon the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practicing on the White House steps. The next morning, their day started early, and they were at their designated security checkpoint by 6:30 a.m.

"When we got off [the metro], it was just amazing how many people ... hundreds and hundreds of people were already walking towards the blue [our] checkpoint," Pam Maldia said. "It was just surreal."

While the weather wasn't ideal and they were in a standing section, Pam Maldia said it was

a great experience to see the process in person and to be a part of the moment. 

"It's really, really neat to see these people that have come from everywhere to support it and be a part of it." She added that after being at the inauguration and seeing parts on television, there were many crowd reactions that were not seen or heard through the broadcast. 

"Both of our children were just fascinated by it," Pam Maldia said. "That was really just such an amazing thing and to have the opportunity to be a part of that moment."

When the inauguration was over, they made their way back to their hotel room. Because their flight left that Saturday and they weren't able to stay for the Women's March, she said Mark and Isabella went to down to the metro early in the morning to get a feel for what the movement was like. 

"I was glad Isabella could a least see a little bit of that, even though we couldn't take her in. As a young person, I think it's important to be exposed to what's going on in a safe way," Pam Maldia said. "I think it's just something that kinda opened her eyes, both of their eyes, to what really goes on outside of our little area and how it affects things in a bigger picture."