I Cried

“Never,” was my father’s answer tonight when asked if he ever thought he’d live to see a black man in the White House.

I cried. I cried when John McCain spoke from Phoenix. He was gracious, eloquent and uncharacteristically warm as he conceded defeat.

I cried some more when Barack Obama spoke from Chicago a few minutes ago. It was an inspiring speech. When his wife came out and they embraced, I read her lips as she said, “I love you.”

What a wonderful night to be an American. What a transformational moment.

“Never,” was my father’s answer tonight when asked if he ever thought he’d live to see a black man in the White House. Never is a strong word. It’s a long way from never to where we are today.

I remember, probably when I was around ten, walking past the F.W. Woolworths in a little strip shopping center at Parsons and Jewel-a block from where I grew up. There were men walking in a circle, carrying signs. I didn’t understand at the time, but it was a picket line. The protest had to do with the Woolworths lunch counters in the south that would not serve ‘colored.” It was the beginning of the civil rights movement. It’s a long way from those pickets to where we are today.

We face immense challenges. Obama comes in off-the-bench with the team down a few touchdowns and time running out. I don’t know if he, or anyone, can get us out of our dilemma. We are in so deep.

Tonight, at least, there is hope.

3 thoughts on “I Cried”

  1. Incredible, yes. Exciting, yes. Momentous, yes.

    But, as with almost every Presidential election, around 48% of our fellow citizens voted the other way. On my election day flight back to CT I heard them bitterly complaining on phones in Albuquerque and Atlanta, and almost didn’t close on a car deal yesterday morning at 8:30 because of an F&I guy’s grumpy comments. I have great hopes that the Obama leadership skills, along with a healthy majority, will bring us closer to the country we can and should be.

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