Inauguration Day

While I'm usually not one to wax political, I thought I would post about yesterday's events.

Background on Sally's Political views: You see, in my "season of life" right now I don't have a lot of time to follow politics. Yes, I try to keep up with the major events of the day (mostly from whatever Greg tells me when he gets home), but by in large I am in my own little world of feeding children, chauffeuring children, buying groceries, changing diapers, etc....Admittedly, I could be better informed, but even if I spent every spare moment reading editorials and watching PBS, it doesn't interest me to the point where I think I'll ever be able to name every Senator from every state and know if they are a Republican or a Democrat. Enough said.

Sally on President Obama: This election year, I did not particulary agree with either candidate strongly on all the issues. But, my one of my pet peeves was the constant racial undertones of the race. Whether they were for or against Obama, I didn't want to hear it. Then, there were the comments on the comments about race Was it an issue? Should it be an issue? Could if ever NOT be an issue? Ick....Geez people, just listen to what the man has to say. If you like his platform and agree with it, vote for him. If you don't, DON'T! It's not that complicated.

Sally on Inauguration Day: Yesterday morning I turned on PBS for Ethan and Katie as usual. Around 9am, the kids in my babysitting co-op starting showing up (there were 7 total). I have a good friend who has adopted two little boys who are half hispanic, half African American. Ethan and J are like brothers and little Jamal is 4 months older than Katie. So, it's fun to have them over. Well, every 5 minutes I would count all the kids 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, ....One time I was missing one. It was little Jamal. I went upstairs to look for him and as I rounded the corner of the loft I could see he was sitting in our yellow plush Tonka chair watching the Inauguaration. Right as I stepped behind him the lady announced, "It is my great personal honor to present the 44th President of these United States - Barack Obama."

As I watched this little boy (originally from Texas) watch President Obama stand to address the nation, I realized what a different world he will grow up in than the one my grandparents, parents, or even I knew. There was just something in that moment that is hard to describe. And although I did not vote for President Obama, I can still appreciate the historical significance of yesterday. I'm not saying that I would have changed my vote just so an African American could be president and America could prove we've evolved, but I appreciate the fact that it was allowed to happen so future generations can see this is the land of opportunity so many fought to achieve.