Exciting days
You know, everyone usually looks at January as kind of a bummer month. The holidays are over, the weather sucks, and spring is still far far away.
For me, however, January is an exciting month.
All of my tv shows come back from the holiday break, mid-season shows start up (yay Idol!), my birthday falls in the middle of the month, new semesters start (when I was in college, at least ::sniff::)...
so despite the crappy weather (yes, even here in South Florida on some days) and the melancholy that sets in over my advancing age, January's a big deal.
Especially this one. Because of tomorrow.
Remember when January 20, 2009 seemed like an eternity away? The day after the '04 elections, we were already counting down to the end. At least, we were counting down when we weren't busy investigating the Canadian immigration process. But we would look at that date, and sigh, and think about how that was so far away.
That was before Hurricane Katrina.
That was before the surge.
That was before we read about Walter Reed falling apart and homeless vets.
That was before the I-35 bridge disaster.
That was before the mortgage crisis.
That was before $4.00/gallon gas.
That was before the economic collapse and bailouts.
We were ready for the end, and we didn't even know what the next 4 years had in store for us.
Seriously. If you haven't been affected in some way by the Epic Fail that was the Bush II years, raise your hand. Oh, do I see a few hands? Ok, if you directly know someone who has been affected, put your hand down.
That's more like it.
Tomorrow, things will start to change.
Notice that I said "start to change." I know, like so many of us do, that this will not happen overnight. We are in a hole waaaaaay to deep for everything to be fixed on Day One. Or by Day 100. But we will get there.
And how exciting is it that just over 24 hours from now, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our new President?
I'm so excited to see what he'll do. How he'll work to fix things. It won't all be done the way we want it done, but it'll get fixed.
I watched the inaugural concert on HBO yesterday. I got goosebumps watching Barack and Michelle (looking fantastic as always) walk down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to join Joe and Jill Biden. The four of them together, waving to the crowd...it was just awesome.
The NY Times did an amazing piece in yesterday's Magazine with full page portraits of the people who will make up the new staff in and around the White House. Look at those faces. It's so cool to see the people, from so many different backgrounds and places and ages (especially ages!), all these people who will be working with our new President.
I'm going to miss the live broadcast of the inauguration tomorrow, but I'll be taping it. I'm probably going to cry. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial yesterday on TV reminded me of my whirlwind day trip to DC and the most amazing part of it. It wasn't the Washington Monument or the glimpse of the White House.
It was the Lincoln Memorial. After seeing everything inside the memorial, we headed back down the steps, and I saw something that gave me pause. In the middle of the steps, there is a tile marking where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood and gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. Standing at that spot and looking out over the Mall, I was just floored. What must it have been like to stand there, in front of all those people, and say the words that Dr. King had to say? Those words of hope for the future, the belief that things would change.
I stood there, long before I had ever heard of Barack Obama, and I was filled with hope. The hope that it would happen someday, Dr. King's dream. We might not be there yet, but tomorrow is a big step in the right direction.
So tomorrow we'll begin a new chapter. Let us look forward with faith and hope. Let's continue with our renewed interest in our political process. Let's be proud to be Americans again, not because of what we have done, but because of what we will accomplish.
Tomorrow is January 20, 2009.
God Bless America.
For me, however, January is an exciting month.
All of my tv shows come back from the holiday break, mid-season shows start up (yay Idol!), my birthday falls in the middle of the month, new semesters start (when I was in college, at least ::sniff::)...
so despite the crappy weather (yes, even here in South Florida on some days) and the melancholy that sets in over my advancing age, January's a big deal.
Especially this one. Because of tomorrow.
Remember when January 20, 2009 seemed like an eternity away? The day after the '04 elections, we were already counting down to the end. At least, we were counting down when we weren't busy investigating the Canadian immigration process. But we would look at that date, and sigh, and think about how that was so far away.
That was before Hurricane Katrina.
That was before the surge.
That was before we read about Walter Reed falling apart and homeless vets.
That was before the I-35 bridge disaster.
That was before the mortgage crisis.
That was before $4.00/gallon gas.
That was before the economic collapse and bailouts.
We were ready for the end, and we didn't even know what the next 4 years had in store for us.
Seriously. If you haven't been affected in some way by the Epic Fail that was the Bush II years, raise your hand. Oh, do I see a few hands? Ok, if you directly know someone who has been affected, put your hand down.
That's more like it.
Tomorrow, things will start to change.
Notice that I said "start to change." I know, like so many of us do, that this will not happen overnight. We are in a hole waaaaaay to deep for everything to be fixed on Day One. Or by Day 100. But we will get there.
And how exciting is it that just over 24 hours from now, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our new President?
I'm so excited to see what he'll do. How he'll work to fix things. It won't all be done the way we want it done, but it'll get fixed.
I watched the inaugural concert on HBO yesterday. I got goosebumps watching Barack and Michelle (looking fantastic as always) walk down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to join Joe and Jill Biden. The four of them together, waving to the crowd...it was just awesome.
The NY Times did an amazing piece in yesterday's Magazine with full page portraits of the people who will make up the new staff in and around the White House. Look at those faces. It's so cool to see the people, from so many different backgrounds and places and ages (especially ages!), all these people who will be working with our new President.
I'm going to miss the live broadcast of the inauguration tomorrow, but I'll be taping it. I'm probably going to cry. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial yesterday on TV reminded me of my whirlwind day trip to DC and the most amazing part of it. It wasn't the Washington Monument or the glimpse of the White House.
It was the Lincoln Memorial. After seeing everything inside the memorial, we headed back down the steps, and I saw something that gave me pause. In the middle of the steps, there is a tile marking where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood and gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. Standing at that spot and looking out over the Mall, I was just floored. What must it have been like to stand there, in front of all those people, and say the words that Dr. King had to say? Those words of hope for the future, the belief that things would change.
I stood there, long before I had ever heard of Barack Obama, and I was filled with hope. The hope that it would happen someday, Dr. King's dream. We might not be there yet, but tomorrow is a big step in the right direction.
So tomorrow we'll begin a new chapter. Let us look forward with faith and hope. Let's continue with our renewed interest in our political process. Let's be proud to be Americans again, not because of what we have done, but because of what we will accomplish.
Tomorrow is January 20, 2009.
God Bless America.
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