Today was a magical day, a glorious day.  The feeling I get when I contemplate this new leader of ours is simply beyond description.  

I did not head out onto the Mall with the millions cheering on our 44th president.  I knew my feisty three year old would not have been very tolerant of hours-long waits at checkpoints and public transportation, in 25 degree weather, the inability to bring backpacks and strollers onto the Mall, and other less-than kid friendly things of that nature.  

As a mom of a little one, I knew the right decision was to stay home.  We watched the inauguration ceremony on a big screen at a local community center with friends, so I still had that little sense of a shared experience.  I cried pretty much through the whole thing - especially the invocation when the pastor talked about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. looking down from heaven.  And Barack Obama saying in his inauguration speech that it is the firefighters entering burning buildings, and parents who are willing to nurture their children, who will shape our destiny. It was a beautiful, beautiful speech.  Usually I hate political speeches.  I can barely listen to them.  But when he speaks, I am moved, and moved deeply. 

After hearing that line in his speech about nurturing children, I felt better about keeping Sami warm and safe in our neighborhood instead of venturing out onto the Mall.  I was doing my best to consider the needs of my child in an uncertain situation.  

Though we weren’t on the Mall today, I want to raise Sami with a love of service, a sense of personal responsibility, all the powerful themes that Obama talked about in his speech.  

When I looked at that brilliant, beautiful man with his hand on the Lincoln Bible today, I just shivered.  A man with the middle name “Hussein” is now our president.  A man who spoke about how 60 years ago his father would not have been allowed to eat in most restaurants in DC.  Our president.  Son of a single mom.  He’s a bridge, spanning our differences, bringing us together. His very presence uplifts and inspires people.  

My cynicism about politics has not completely disappeared, but I’d say that it has significantly faded.  I’m holding on to scraps of my anarchist youth, my grad school-cultivated contempt of all forms of nationalism, but these days I am feeling downright proud to be an American.  Never ever thought I would say that.

One last thing: I do have an update about MTM, which I’ll post about tomorrow, but I’m not going to taint this post with anything but pure celebration and reverence for this special day, a day I’ll never forget as long as I live.

Buh-bye, W. Hello, O.