A New Day

Yesterday was a day I will never forget, a day so many Americans have been waiting for, and a return to hope, pride, enthusiasm, faith and dare I say it...patriotism. I am so happy that my child will be born during an Obama presidency.

My first glimpse of that hope (yes, I know it sounds almost cliche now) was way back in July 2004, when I first heard relative unknown Barack Obama speak at the DNC.

Here is my post on LiveJournal the morning after:

Wow there were some great speeches tonight on tv from the Democratic Convention. I was brought to tears a few times. That may sound silly but that's how strongly I feel about things changing in November. If it doesn't I don't know what I'm going to do.

The speech that blew them all out of the water was made by a man I had never heard of before. After tonight I was ready to vote Barack Obama for president. What an eloquent, amazing, charismatic man. It's people like that that give you hope. He is our future hope. I pray some crazy person doesn't try to destroy that hope like what was done to the Kennedys and MLK. Here is a snippet of his speech.

"A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one."

That was certainly another moment I'll never forget. I turned to Alex and said, "That man is going to be our president someday!" Little did I know it would only be four (albeit long) years.

Yesterday was a day I was brimming with pride for my country and for what its citizens have accomplished. To think that just 40 years ago Obama wouldn't even have been able to drink out of the same drinking fountain as many of us who voted for him. Just thinking about this makes me cry. A picture that really drove that home was this picture I found on TIME's website, the caption reading


A server at the coffee and the new President chat.


Now of course I realize things aren't perfect, nor are they going to be. I don't have on rose colored glasses. However, it's been a long time since I've had faith in our government and I am hoping beyond hope (there's that hope again) that things improve, that our government officials start working for us, and that if anything, this new administration inspires people to get involved and make a difference in our world. The self-centeredness and greed of today's America needs to change.

So long #43.