OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system...

Seriously, I have always said, when the subject came up, that I was sure this country would elect a black man before it elected a white woman for President. Still, though, I did not expect it to be this soon. I wasn't even sure either event would happen within my lifetime.

I fell asleep on the couch early Tuesday night. By the time I fell asleep, though, it was looking good for Obama. I watched McCain's concession speech and Obama's big speech online Wednesday morning, at work. I thought McCain was very classy during his speech. His audience, however, was not. Yes, I understand that in those circumstances, any audience of that nature is going to boo the idea of a concession, of the other guy winning. This audience, however, booed Obama each time he was mentioned by name, and I found that to be unclassy.

As we watched Obama's speech, I felt myself getting teary-eyed a bit. Not because I am a die-hard Democrat- I'm really not. (I'm registered to vote, but I am Undeclared. I'm too Liberal to be a Republican and too Conservative to be a Democrat. The beauty of being Undeclared in NJ is that you can vote for either party in the Primaries. ;) ) I was watching the people in the aidience while listening to his speech. I saw several people laughing and weeping together, black, white, and everyone in between. What a freaking awesome moment for this country. My parents grew up in a time when segregation was still perfectly legal in the South; my father told me a story once about when he went to Norfolk, VA for Naval training, and, having grown up in the North, he had to ask someone what "Colored" meant on the bathroom doors and above water fountains. My parents grew up in a time when black people in the South had a hard time even being able to vote, and now my two-year-old son will never remember a time in which it was crazy talk for a black man to aspire to be President of the United States.

I'm proud that this country was able to overcome its prejudices and have this moment in history. It's nice to have a positive historical moment my son will ask me about years from now, as opposed to something like 9/11, and know that I was here to witness it.

Now, President-Elect Obama, please prove that our faith in you was not misplaced. I certainly don't expect miracles from you or anyone else, but please help to set our country on a good path.

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Tomorrow morning I leave at 8am for my interpreting conference. Yay! Have a great weekend!