VIDEO: Photo Opportunity With President Barack Obama Still Inspires A Local Kid Eight Years Later

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)-President Barack Obama gave his final speech as the President of the United States Tuesday night.

It’s a time when many Americans are reflecting on their memories over the past eight years.

In an unscripted moment years ago in Columbus, the commander-in-chief affected one family more than he may ever know.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but for Carol Jamison, seeing her son’s picture with Barack Obama on the front page of the local newspaper left her speechless.

“I was shocked,” said Jamison. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

Jamison and her son Ethan had gone to hear President Obama speak at a campaign rally in Columbus.

But it’s what Obama did after his speech that created a lasting memory for Jamison and her son.

“When he finished his speech, he started to come around and shake people’s hands and what have you, and he just reached for Ethan out of my arms and he held him for a few minutes,” Jamison recalled. “Then Ethan began to drool on his shoulder and I was like, oh my goodness, and he was like, oh I’m used to this and I remember these days, and he just passed him back to me and that’s how it happened.”

Ethan was just six months old when the picture was taken. Now, he’s nine years old.

When asked how does it feel knowing he took a picture with the only president he’s ever known, Ethan simply said, “It was good.”

With his photo being put on the front page of the newspaper for everyone to see, it led to Ethan earning a nickname.

“The nickname for him at our church was Obama baby so that’s what people called him at church Obama’s baby,” Jamison explained.

Ethan said he has plans to be just like the guy holding him in the photo.

The nine year old said he’s fascinated with politics. In fact, Ethan and his family took a trip to Washington, D.C., this past summer and got a chance to see the White House.

“I went to museums, I went to the Smithsonian,” he said. “I mostly went to some historical places.”

Unfortunately, this time around he didn’t get to take another picture with Obama.

However, more than eight years later since the photo was snapped, Jamison said Ethan’s picture with first African-American president still holds a very special meaning to him.

“Of course he wasn’t old enough at the time, but when he got old enough to understand, we began to tell him about the day and about meeting and being held with the first black president,” said Jamison.

Ethan tells WCBI he has aspirations to become an attorney when he gets older.