This morning we started with Zane climbing into the bed shortly after 7am to tell me the sun is up and when the sun is up, people are supposed to get out of bed. Then I encouraged him to get under the warm covers for a bit until Evan, the family alarm clock, sounded. Then we had a good 20 minutes of him insisting I move over to Daddy's side of the bed while he took over my cozy spot.
Evan woke up all smiles despite this yellow blob growing out of his nose and taking over his face every 5-10 minutes. The humidifier is always the best toy to play with first thing in the morning; loved by children ages 1-4. I think for a moment how this baby girl will be born during a historic year.
We got the paper, which we knew would promise for an important event happening this morning. The pavement was chilly on my bare feet and the workers were already starting on the roof over there. The sky was clear.
Before breakfast was served and as I tuned in to CNN Live we had our morning call from The Man of the House. It was a fine morning for a special family prayer for Obama (plus our family) in addition to a scripture reading about being kind to our neighbors.
The boys ate, Mike jaunted off to a brisk morning in Washington while I input typo after typo in the facebook/ CNN live chat while the inaguration began.
The pest control man arrived early and stood at the door waaaaaay too long staring and not talking (this is his thing for some reason) while I nicely rushed him in and quickly returned to my seat waiting for The Man of the Hour to appear through my computer screen.
I summoned Zane to watch him with me as the soon-to-be-President began to head down the hallway leading him to the platform where the world waited to cheer him on. For the first time I saw a brief solomn look in his eyes that made my heart climb into my throat. It was a look that made me feel proud to be able to see him heading into that doorway; representing far more than I can begin to express or realize as a young, white, middle class woman. A face that felt the honest love of a nation and history of our ancestors celebrating a whole lot more than just the changing of hands running a country that has a lot of problems to solve.
I missed much of the singing, but was able to see his speech. To me, I felt it was from his gut. It was powerful and honest and real. It was inspiring and I admit that few people can reach through a t.v. screen (or computer screen) and say things in such a way that I want to move and take action on something important. His ability to communicate well along with his personal history and experience will allow him the ability to establish and maintain key relationships with both farway and local people in our world.
Today our 44th American President was sworn in and I got to see it! The very first African American President: Brack Obama. I think he is a great fit for this job. But he will not be perfect. He isn't supposed to be. But he will be great. Because he knows he has to be. And we will applaude him along the way.
