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Today is a historic day in our nation's history. Although, truth be told, I'm a bit over-loaded with that information. If the 2 year plus election, or historic win wasn't enough, these two months of president-elect business has been enough to hold me over until the next election. Which will probably begin next week, right?
The nation is filled with hope, despite the overwhelming tasks we face to rebuild our economy, work on the deficit, increase job opportunities, fix the educational system, find a solution to our country's involvement in the middle east, further heal the economic and social divide in our country, regain credibility as a nation on the world's stage, find alternatives to our nation's energy dependence, fix the ailing health care and Social Security crises, and on and on and on. It's a tall order, and the nation is waiting for answers from our new administration. Some fear that too much is going to be expected too soon ... or that we're waiting with false hope for one man to change what is wrong with our nation.
Today Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and is the first multi-racial person to hold that distinction. It IS historic, it IS remarkable that I am living to see what will hopefully be the beginning of the end of our country's long history of racism and divisiveness. Perhaps most exciting to me is the fact that my young children are witnessing the ushering in of a new Commander-In-Chief. In the years to come, they will probably not remember the specifics of this time in history, but one thing is certain to make a lasting impression. The textbooks that they will read and study in school in the years to come will be written in an entirely different way than the ones I grew up reading. Instead of feeling regret and sorrow over their country's past, and not having much hope for real change in the future, their textbooks will emphasize the change brought about in our nation during their parents' and grandparents' lifetimes. A progression towards an entirely different way of life in a country that has always touted it's grand opportunities. For the first time, those opportunities seem real ... the possibilities that we preach to our children, the promise that they can grow up to be anything they want to be, will look just a little bit more credible after today.
For now, my children are consumed with the basic information they have been taught about our next president. He is the first black man to be president. His wife is Michelle, and he has two daughters. They are getting a puppy. There's a bowling alley in the White House. And, perhaps most importantly, Obama rhymes with llama. I look forward to teaching them many more wonderful things in the next 4-8 years!
