Tonight the unimaginable became a reality. Wow. I'm still reeling from the truth of it all. Did I dream it? Or did an African American truly just get elected to the presidency of the United States? I almost cannot believe it. Drew and Ella and I traveled to town today to perform errands, but not until I spent a little while making get-out-the-vote calls to voters in Colorado.
All throughout the day, we listened for anything to cling to on the radio news as we went from store to store, but all we heard was news of election difficulty, long poll lines, precincts running out of paper ballots, people needing to vote in the rain. But by dinnertime, returns were trickling in, and as we careened over the snaking, twisting Wildcat road home, we listened in disbelief as it became increasingly clear that Mr. Obama would be our next president: New Hampshire, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania (my home state!), and so on, were all in the blue. Just after we drove up to the yurt, as I was holding a sleeping Ella on my shoulder and watching a hazy, champagne moon, Virginia was announced, sealing the deal. By the time we got the media up and running on the computer, McCain was delivering his concession speech, which was respectful and upstanding, despite some icky audience members.
I was overwhelmed several times on the journey home tonight with tears of joy and gratitude, that this day has come, that the intentions set forth by the Founding Fathers, who practiced ownership of other human beings because they were a different color, their words in the Declaration of Independence were fully realized: "...all men are created equal..." (We'll worry about getting women included later!) It feels like a great day for our nation, one I am proud to witness.
I especially appreciate Obama's speech, that he did not gloat, nor get too excited. He reminded us that we have A LOT of work to do, and he is right. This is just the beginning, of a long road toward an America we can be proud of again, but for tonight, I am exhaling, and celebrating!
No comments:
Post a Comment