Glued to the TV from the couch with my wife, my best friend, by my side, both of us filled with nervous energy, ready to be uncorked like lightning before a storm.
The reflection of what this night truly was, for us: the months of waiting for the culmination for us of our hope, our donations, our trip to Philadelphia to call homes to get out and vote, both of us believing in Barack Obama's message, his vision which for once to me seemed more than a politician's rhetoric, the hope that this truly was, as I believed, the leader I've been waiting my whole life for.
Lisa and I watching the faces and listening to the voices that have been our guides for this election on MSNBC background for the past few months: Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, etc... (who have seemed admittedly biased in these past few months - but only because I think they're all intelligent and couldn't hold back their honest feelings anymore).
Our optimism tempered by MSNBC's early declarations that "so far, this is unfolding like 2000... Obama hasn't turned any red states yet...", not recognizing it for the building-the-suspense, stay-tuned ruse that it was.
The early eruptions, like twin claps of thunder, of Pennsylvania... followed later by Ohio... and a sense of the inevitable unfolding... the commentators admitting that the path for McCain winning was dwindling quickly.
The realization of what would happen at 11:00 Eastern, when the West Coast states' polls closed.
The return from commercial. The historic announcement at 11:00. The talking heads being quiet for several minutes and letting the images flood into our TV, the gravity of what has transpired just starting to pour onto on all of us, saturate us, fill us, watching ecstasy and jubilation in various places across our country, places chosen by MSNBC to illustrate the variety of places shown.
The overwhelming scene from Chicago. The unbelievably moving sight of Jesse Jackson unable to control his emotions throughout the evening. The culmination of the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and everybody in between who fought on the side of fairness, equality, and justice.
And finally, after an hour of this surreal feeling, Barack speaking and giving the most miraculous speech I've heard in my lifetime. Barack summarizing what has happened, and delivering the promise I've been waiting to hear, recognition of the task at hand with optimism that we truly will do it together. Barack saying things that I cannot hope to adequately capture with description, with adjectives, with any sense of eloquence.
Finally, for me, a sense of true *promise* and not just a promise... the sense of history being created in every sense of the word, the chance that everything about our country and our world may be different in a few short years.
I'll remember these snapshots, these moments of my life, forever. I feel baptized, renewed.
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I felt sick all day yesterday. As the election reslts started coming in, I felt panic rise in my heart. Had we done enough? Were we ready? Was this really it? I felt we'd "boarded the train there's no getting off" and I wasn't sure where that train was headed. But when Ohio was announced for Barack Obama, the "second clap of thunder" as my husband put it, I felt anxiety replaced by elation. I felt the first glimmer of faith restored.
My students are doing projects on The American Dream and the Harlem Renaissance today. I have watched their Power Point presentations and I have seen images of "whites only" water fountains, Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King Jr. As I watched, I couldn't help but wonder... could I teach my students a lesson more powerful than the one history taught them yesterday? God Bless America.
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