Here's to you, Mr. President

What a historic day! I raced home (literally, raced! Through a yellow light in front of a cop—and if you know me, and my ‘granny’ style of driving, you’d be impressed.) in order to watch Barack Obama take his oath of office. History! I will be telling my children about this some day. Schuyler left work to watch it in the town square. He told me, “This is one of the first times I’ve ever been truly proud to be an American.” And I guess that is true for people of our age. Some of our earliest political memories are tainted with the words “Monica Lewinsky” and “Gulf War.” We were junior’s in high school during the infamous Bush/Gore recount debacle. W. was sworn in a mere two weeks after my 17th birthday—and again right after my 21st. The Patriot Act. Waterboarding. None of that strikes too much national pride into my young heart. And maybe that is just the nature of politics. It’s polarizing and deceitful; perhaps it has always been this ugly. But, I will continue to hope that it’s not that way. Hope that America hasn’t become a place of complacent, self-centered individuals, a place where teamwork and hard work are mythical.

I hope that Barack is a man of his word. I heard a small child on the radio the other day read a letter he wrote to Barack Obama. He wrote that he and his family have no money to drive their car and they have very little food. He wrote that his mother believes that Barack Obama will help them—that he will be able to help his family. If I remember correctly, they were migrant workers. So many people look to President Obama to bridge the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. It seems being a “typical” American has become synonymous with living paycheck to paycheck. They think he holds the magic answer. But it’s not that simple. As I heard him urge today, we all have to be the change we seek.

So today I am filled with pride, for one of the first times in my life, for being an American. For (finally) voting for someone who actually WON. But most importantly, I understand that now is the time for cooperation, enthusiasm, hard work, and perseverance.

And that’s my little note of the day. Cheers!