Today Is A Good Day

This is one of those days. One of those "I remember when" kinda moments. I am not of the Kennedy generation and I wasn't alive when man walked on the moon. I remember when the Challenger blew up. I was in first grade and all three classes squeezed into one room to watch the Challenger launch on TV. I remember that it blew up but we were so young, I am not sure we comprehended that it wasn't supposed to happen until I saw my teacher (whose name I don't remember, but face I won't forget) was crying. Only then did we have the understanding that something went wrong. I remember that I was listening to Good Morning America in my car when they announced that a plane hit the World Trade Center. Charlie Gibson was describing that they didn't know what happened when the second plane hit. I heard his reaction live on TV. I ran into my work and switched on the radio. I was transfixed for the day. A computer nerd (not the one I married) came into my office and laughed at the situation saying that there must be drunk pilots that morning. I don't fault him now, as no one could come close to understanding the full ramifications of what was happening. A terror attack like that was unimaginable at that time. There was no way to predict that the towers would fall killing so many innocent victims.

In my generation, there is nothing positive that has happened in that "I remember where I was when..." category. There are no victories, there are no great events like a moon walk. There is nothing that doesn't equal sadnessand tragedy... until today. I feel like this is that moment for us. I don't care what your politics are and you may be Sarah Palin's biggest fan. Today is not a day to worry about that. We can start on the armchair Presidenting tomorrow. Today is a day to celebrate the fact that an African American is being sworn in as President of the United States for the first time ever. The majority of United States citizens were able to put aside any sort of racial bias and say that Barack Obama is the best man for this job. They were able to ignore that the name was foreign... its not John, George or James.... we elected a man named Barack Hussein Obama not because of his lineage, bank account or the color of his skin... but because we as a people believed that this was the best man to lead our nation. That is an amazing thing, and every person in this country should sit back and take stock in what that means. We've come a long way, baby, and today, above all other days, I am proud to be an American.

Congratulations, Mr. President.