Most of you reading this know us well enough to know who we voted for. So yes, our guy won. Yes, that makes us happy. But that happiness is not the shallow happiness of beating an opponent; it is the deep, profound happiness that comes from seeing a nation's citizens unafraid to let light and hope shine unapologetically in their eyes. That's all I can say without getting choked up...below are the words Chris was able to find.
Forty years after the below photo was taken, thousands of people assembled in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate the election of Barack Obama. It was a piece of history that I know all of us, Republicans and Democrats, can step back and recognize.
The great experiment that is America, with all of our various races, religions, and points of view finally turned a corner. We turned the corner of fear and hate towards those who are not quite like us. We turned the corner of apathy regarding a broken, corrupt, inept federal government. We turned the corner of divisive, scare-tactic, rally-the-base politics and said we can do better.
So regardless of what you think of the new president elect, we must all realize that our country and our world won’t ever be the same after November 4th 2008. In case you weren’t watching, the below is from Obama’s victory speech on Tuesday. The images from this time around in Chicago were a little different than last time, and I, for one, think that it is a change that could only be for the better.
“America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.”
Si se puede. And we did.
Delilah turned 7 months old 9 days ago and the biggest change is that she's mobile! She started crawling today and it very quickly went from "Oh, look how cute she is crawling" to "Oh, crap, go catch her!" She wants to explore EVERYTHING and is surprisingly fast. We've been adding more foods to her repertoire and her hands-down favorite is carrots. (Insert banal joke about carrots and her being a 'carrot top' here). Favorite game is still peek-a-boo and she's recently started to make herself laugh, which is pretty cute. She's been laughing at us for awhile (who doesn't?) but lately she'll be sitting there, playing by herself, and she'll just start giggling. It cracks me up and makes me wonder what made her laugh; did she just tell herself a joke? Did she accidentally tickle herself? Does she just like the sound of her laugh? Who knows?!
