??Shock. I am still in shock. Right now I am lying in bed, but 36 hours ago, I screaming my face off and bawling on the National Mall watching President Obama be inaugurated. Two friends and I picked up and left on Sunday morning without any planning. We had a car, each other, and some baby carrots. We figured that was all we needed. It will be a story to tell our grandchildren. But of course, by the time we tell that story, it will have been -15° F while we waited on the Mall (not 40° F) and we will have cross-country skiied to DC (not driven with heated seats).
But the spectacle aside, the most moving part of the experience actually happened on the ride home. It was a (fairly one-sided) conversation with my mother in California via text messages. Here it is, slightly edited.
My mom:
Just finished dinner, back to watching inaugural ball. Mostly commentary now.Did however just catch an eloquent speech by Biden at military ball. I’m thinking much of the new discourse on gays and lesbians may attach to military. In our current society no one can question their patriotism and defense of democratic ideals. It makes those who attack them appear less American and exposes the hypocrisy in our society.
Me:
Ugh, I am reading these messages out loud to the girls. Amazing.
My mom:
I love conversations like this…. It is amazing how your generation straddles my experience and keeps me young. And I/my generation feels each day the wisdom your generation possesses beyond your years. Keep up the extraordinary perceptive kindness and rugged questioning of our combined future as Americans.
Me:
Totally random… We saw Anderson Cooper!
My mom:
What!? Great hair. May we all age so graciously.
Me:
And I called Grammy and told her everything too.
[My mom’s mother, who still lives in Berkeley, CA.]
My mom:
I am so glad you called her. I remember she cried at Dario’s [my brother] 5th grade graduation. She kept saying, “We did it, we did it!” She was referring to school integration. The first concrete move to integrate our society. She worked each day as a volunteer in classrooms, the playgrounds and the libraries to make sure it became real.
Me:
I had no idea. I can’t imagine what it means for her to have a black president.
My mom:
She straddled so many eras. A black president is her pride and joy. He was the child she worked so hard to bring a new future too. And so many other of many walks of life. It is the best and simplest part of what we can do for each other, across race, generation, culture and more. Raise each other’s children as our own and give birth to a new world of profound vision.
I was crying again in the car.