I've never cried before when the winner of a presidential election was announced. I haven't lived through too many, but even when Bush won both times, the election seemed far away. The election never felt personal to me, until last night. I had played with msnbc.com's electoral map enough to know when Pennsylvania and Ohio went to Obama, the next president had already been elected. I knew an hour before the West polls closed who would win. Jason called me 5 minutes before the west coast polls closed so we could countdown together and be on the phone together when the winner was announced. And yet when Keith Olbermann actually announced it, when the electoral count jumped to 286, I was stunned. I just stood there, in front of my tv, just processing for a second that it actually happened. Then when Jason yelled "Whoa, it just jumped! It's over 270!" I just crumpled and my eyes watered up. I stumbled back to my chair, tears going down my face. I wasn't prepared for that. I wasn't prepared for how powerful that moment would be. I had an hour to process it before it was announced, but it was still overwhelming. Last night was a wonderful night for America, but it was a surprisingly personal night for me. I have 18 cousins and 7 second cousins on my mom's side of my family. All of us are either biracial or multiracial. None of us look alike, but all of us are minorities. Jason's biracial and we are in an inter-racial relationship. Last night a ceiling was broken for all of us. Yes, someone from my family, maybe even my future children, can actually aspire to be president. My mom called me after Obama's speech and said that she couldn't believe how emotional she was watching it. I told her the same thing happened to me. We both agreed we hadn't fully realized the gravity of the moment until it arrived. We were both glad we were alive to witness the moment with our own eyes. Last night is a night I'll never forget. Last night is something that I'll tell my children and grandchildren about. Last night, history was made.
Song of the Day
The Times They are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan
Selected because: It just seems to fit the mood of last night and this morning.
Comments
george91910us
Your generation has arrived as mine is fading away. Hopefully you and your age group will take your responsibility seriously. On the eve of my high school graduation our class advisor congratulated us and said he hoped his our generation would create a better world than his had. Until yesterday I felt we had failed. Hopefully your generation will have more success.