1/20/09

we've been waiting for this day for so long, it's hard to believe it's finally here. and it's wonderful to be celebrating, first and foremost, the inauguration of barack obama, and only secondly the end of the george w. bush era. to feel positive and excited about the future, not only glad that the last eight years of willful ignorance, narrowing of civil liberties, economic deregulation, and wasteful, unnecessary war are over. (heckuva job, bushie!)

of course, bebe's only had to wait 6 months.



watching the inauguration with my daughter is an experience i will never forget. if i cared about the future of our nation and the world before, it was nothing compared to how high the stakes feel to me now that it's her life, her world, her future i'm thinking about.

in preparation, we watched obama's election night victory speech, which is still on our DVR. bebe was almost as happy and emotional as i was.

yes we can!

the moment he was taking the oath:

and watching his address:

one of my favorite moments of the morning was the musical interlude, which included an arrangement of the shaker hymn "simple gifts." this was my senior class hymn in high school and has held a special place in my heart ever since. in case you're not familiar with it, here are the words:

'tis a gift to be simple
'tis a gift to be free
'tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
and when we find ourselves in the place just right
'twill be in the valley of love and delight

when true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
to turn, turn will be our delight
til by turning, turning we come 'round right

in the words of the 44th president of the united states of america, "we have chosen hope over fear." we are finally, finally beginning to come 'round right.