Yes We Did!

I've been pondering an amazing thing in my heart this week. We just finished a very long and sometimes brutal election year and despite all previous experience to the contrary, hope overcame fear in 2008. I needed some time to digest this extraordinary result before I could really put it into words.
I came to political consciousness during Watergate, the US supported overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, the Iran Hostage Crisis and Contragate. I was too young to really feel Vietnam but woke up in horror to 9/11.
Taylor was born in November of 1989. The headlines in the newspaper the weekend he was arrived was all about the fall of the Berlin Wall - the end of the Cold War. Eighteen years later, on November 4th, 2008, Taylor and I walked 3 blocks to our neighborhood polling place and cast our vote for Barack Obama.

That same night we, and what seemed like all of Seattle were out in the streets celebrating the election of our new President.

I know that there is a lot of hard work and difficult times ahead. We are in the worst financial crisis of this generation and we have spent too many years squandering our potential leadership. Despite all of that, I feel hopeful and proud of our country for the first time that I can remember. We have a few months of transition to get through. I am praying for our President, his family and our country that come January 21, 2009, Barack Obama will be the leader of a people ready and willing to do the hard work necessary to be a beacon to the world.
I still get chills and teary thinking about Tuesday night but the picture that I truly will be keeping in my heart is from Wednesday morning. As Taylor was heading out the door for class at SCCC, we compared notes about our experiences the night before, celebrating Obama's election. I said "You know, it was just an amazing night." Taylor paused, came back into the house, gave me a big, spontaneous hug and said, "You are right - it is an amazing thing!"
More later...