So I cry a little too easily, maybe. But how can a person watch the television declare the election of this leader and not become misty? Would you not question an observer’s soul if he or she did not shed one tear of joy for our nation’s turning a page on the darkest stain?
I remember seeing the man speak in 2004 and being moved. Saying to Mrs. BostonJoe — this man will be President. Did his reminder then that we are one nation bring tears to my eyes? I don’t know. It is a fact lost to history.
I remember the speech filled with hope following the man’s victory in the Iowa primary. How moved I was. The chills that ran through me. The beginnings of recognition that I was privileged to watch such history unfold.
So I cried while imitating John Wayne tonight. I did not ball or shriek. Just let the emotion — this joy at living through this moment — leak out of the corner of my eye.
Mrs. Boston Joe made our girls line up by the tele so she could photograph them next to him as he began his first speech as the leader of our nation.
In my life we have landed on the moon. Two leaders of great hope have been gunned down as they tried to lead this nation to a better place. Our country has been brutally attacked. And in electing this man we have taken a step toward healing the most inhumane legacy of your history.
I have never felt better as an American. I needed to say that to friends. To thank you all for helping to do this thing. To share in the joy that I know you all feel.
What may come, I do not know. But the man embodies a hope for our society. And hope is better than despair.
Goodnight good pond mates.
