Labels: Obama

This has obviously been an historic election, and I'm proud of whatever small role I've played. But the best part for me has been the opportunity to revel in the pride that I have in America and our system of government. Winning sporting events and killing terrorists, even national tragedies don't fire me up with patriotism. It's changing the direction of the country almost overnight, without the bloodshed and enmity we see elsewhere in the world. It's choosing a leader who represents the best in ourselves, someone who really understands why this country has a right to call itself "great", who can inspire people of different backgrounds and beliefs across the country and around the world... that's what had me shouting Yes! We! Can! Yes! We! Can! with a roomful of people in Denver last night, pouring out into the streets, shouting and waving, crowding around cars that my friends and I thought must contain political celebrities, but actually only contained other revelers, fists pumping, yelling with joy right back at us. Damn, it was awe-inspiring.

I'll remember taking Katie to Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco field, waiting in line with 80,000 others, feeling the camaraderie of a common purpose, watching the middle-aged black woman in line ahead of us explain fist bumps to the older white man ahead of her while we waited, sharing jokes and wry remarks with strangers, knowing that this was something Katie could tell her grandchildren about some day. (Megan and Sara couldn't make it to Invesco, but they watched it on TV together, and this morning I heard about how Megan teared up -- just as I did -- as she watched Obama accept the presidency last night. Alison won't remember, of course, but we'll tell her how she ran around the house screaming "Gobama! Gobama!' on Election Day.)

And one more thing: Last night I was wandering through the crowds at the Denver Sheraton with a group of my co-workers, trying to find a party we'd heard about, like a bunch of joyous freshmen drunk on freedom and beer, when we happened upon a hotel worker, an older black man, who'd just finished spray cleaning the glass front of a lobby TV kiosk. He signaled me and pointed at the kiosk, and in the confusion I thought for a second that he was trying to show me the good job he'd done with the cleaning. But then I realized that what he was pointing to was the CNN banner which read: "Obama Projected Winner", and that he was sharing with me this moment, the one he'd tell his children about, just like I would, that moment when we finally knew it had happened, really happened. That moment when history went from in the making to having been made, and that we were there for it.

I'll remember that.

Labels: Election, Memories