Friday, August 29, 2008

"I didn't want to witness history alone"

Last night I joined my fellow citizens in the ballroom of a local caterer to watch history unfold. The event was being shown on a movie screen streaming live from the laptop.

Like most communities, there were two entrenched camps. The usual activitists, early Obama and HRC supporters were present. There was at least 100 people in attendance on a cool summer night. I was pleasantly surprised.

One older white lady with tears in her eyes utttered to no one in particular, "I didn't want to witness history alone."

I stood along the wall and just absorbed the crowd and waited patiently for the main event to begin. The excitement and the moment were pallitable.

I am not one for public tears unless there is a dead body involved. Being raised in a male dominated culture it was simply not cool. However, as the light dimmed and they panned the volume of people in Mile High Stadium I was generally moved to tears. I was surprised at my reaction.

I was raised to believe that with hard work anything was possible. BUT, being the President of the United States of America was not in the relm of possibilities. He is one election victory away from being the leader of the free world. My daughter, nieces or nephews can aspire to be President.

Barak Obama ran an successful primary and he won the most votes. Iowa shocked the world, shocked me and probably shocked Obama by handing him a victory. I really did not think white America would vote for a black man. How glad I am to have been so wrong. The Founding Fathers wrote an awesome business plan on how to govern a country but a few valuable resources were left behind.

My generation has stood on the shoulders of our predecessors who bled for our rights that we take for granted. Their sacrifices made this moment in history possible.

On numerous occasions my neighbors were on their feet cheering throughout the speech. I suppose none of us wanted to witness history alone.

What a country!


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