Welcome President Barack Hussein Obama - (part IV - FINALE)

It was almost a tie. The elation I felt when Obama was finally sworn in or the glorious moments watching the official helicopter fly over the Capitol and out of Washington DC with FORMER president George Bush. My chest felt as if something was going to leap out of it and dance. Yet, only the sight of Barack Hussein Obama becoming the President of the United States brought on the round of hugs and jumping around. I can still remembering hugging Camille first and thinking about these moments we shared are like nothing ever before.

I think quickly about the rest of the country and the world looking at the Inauguration. We have all found our place to be a part of history. Being there for the beginning of a national healing.






I am struck by the impact of these days. I do not want to leave and I AM proud of my country. In uncertain times, I have hope, inspiration and believe in our ability to fly above the ditch that has been dug for the past eight years.



Today, we can say history was made. All our travels to monuments and ancient sites, in the United States and throughout the world, can not touch the fact that we, the people, have all been part of a creating a legend for the ages.

Welcome President Barack Hussein Obama, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Welcome home.

I Too Sing America...(part III - FINALE)

Dear Langston, Camille (grandmother), Sojourner, Rosa, Malcolm, Martin, Robert, Harriet, Frederick and others,

I feel your presence in my hometown. D.C. is full of ghosts, spirits, ancestors. 2+ million breathing and countless others from the past are witnesses. Patriotism has many definitions and Americans could final walk out of their closets to display its many forms.

Service: especially youth service, greets me early as these timid youth ask us to sign petitions ask Obama to help end the genocide in Dafur. No one turns them away. I want to hug them. I know actions like these can now be celebrated as heroic and as love of country. Service brings out the best of Americans as caring human beings.

Flags: Traditional and altered - seen as the fabric of our national connection to one another today - not criminal, nor offensive.

Civility: The picture of true peace all day. No care of nation status. No care of rich or poor. No incidents of violence. Welcome to the neighborhood.

The Massachusetts couple who hugs all around our section - tears of joy - laughing and crying throughout the ceremony - our instant friends.

The women who sit next to us traveled, as far as we have, only to sit next to fellow Californians. A teacher from the Pruess school at UCSD and a group of friends from the Imperial Valley.

Even movie stars must mingle with the not so famous (see Halle Berry and Jamie Foxx). Many others are in our section too but the star of the day has finally arrived.

In Obama's America - (part II - Finale)

The day is the birth of Obama's America and I can only see the day through those eyes. The experiences unlike any day I have lived but had always hoped to see. As Camille and I walk to the front of the Capitol steps, the phrase "no ways tired" echos in my head. WE have waited much longer than what will turn out to be a 7.5 hour journey before Obama is sworn in.

In Obama's America, for the first time, I am not made to feel as if I am the enemy in my own nation. Military, police, FBI and other security treat the celebrants with respect, kindness and acknowledge all with smiles. Feelings I am not familiar with - this new agenda is shocking and new. I take it at face value even if it is for this day only.




They are vigilant and we are happy they make us feel they ARE there to protect us, to protect Obama and these armed workers for the day are showered with "thanks" as people pass by. Marines serve simple as ushers for the theater of the day. They are so young, I listen as one tells how he applied to serve at the Inauguration. He is so proud and honored to be here this day. We bond over our warm climate homes and how soon he will see his family in Las Vegas. I feel they resist their own breakdown to tear up and cheer when Obama is sworn in - their lives highly considered before going into harms way. Their eyes speak volumes today.

Out of the Darkness - Into the Light (part I - Finale)

It's a New Day - Obama's Inauguration!

4:30 AM - The alarm rings. Camille jumps out of bed and half sleepwalking/half getting dressed - she asks "Where am I?"

5:30 AM - Bodies pour out of every hotel door - bundled beyond belief but the energy is already hot. We all walk out into the pre-dawn darkness.

We wait for the public bus to transport us to the nearest Metro train station but instead the expensive shuttle bus company has sent its drivers to pick up everyone from the hotels for free for the day. The drivers were happy and proud they were part of helping Obama.

6:00am - The metro began to fill quickly, as we arrived at station after station, with sleep deprived, grinning faces.

On the train, you could hear pieces of chatter:

• " Can you believe it is TODAY?";
• " Where are you from?";
• "This is the happiest day";
• "I never thought this day would come".

The feelings were mutual between travelers.

AGAIN, we part from my mom as her security screening area is separate from mine and Camille's. We are off on separate trains. Although our seats are only about 200 yards apart, our entrances to the Capitol were almost 5 miles apart.

Camille and I disembark at Union Station where each inch of floor space is filled with people moving steadily outside to stand in 2 hour lines before reaching our ultimate destination.

We camp out for breakfast on a higher, less crowded floor. Meeting and greeting strangers - IT was beginning. IT was the start of a connection we would have forever without knowing each others names.

I felt as if I had been traveling in a foreign country for years and all of a sudden you hear some speaking your same language from home. You haven't heard it in a long time but it is exciting to hear something familiar, something you don't have to explain or translate. Except, I realize that this language is being spoken by everyone around me. It is the language of camaraderie, compassion and community and it is right here in America.

7:30 am - Camille and I join the moving masses and make our way outside of Union Station - into the light of day.