On the Eve of the Inaguration

The Inauguration has little to do with the fact that I am a "single living in a not-so-single city." However, it is something that has consumed life my life since November 4, 2008. I have vivid memories from the night when I watched the electoral votes light up to 255 and they were for Barack Obama - not John McCain. I turned to one of my best friends and we questioned what we were seeing and then began celebrating. She had devoted her life to the campaign and the time I had given was insignificant compared to her; however, it was something we had both believed in for a weeks, months, years. After that night my feet were sore from dancing, my throat sore from cheering, and ears were ringing from the celebration. The next morning, it felt like I had been celebrating a new year; my lips could even tell of the random guy I had kissed that night. (Haven't seen him since that night, but hey, we all have to kick bad habits.)

On the eve of the 2009 Inauguration of our 44th president, more than 3,000 miles away from the nation's capitol there is a buzz. The pre-ceremony events are on every television monitor in any public place, people are discussing it at cafes, bars, restaurants - and most conversations share the same tone - hopeful. This hope is something that will only last if we all continue do to our part. We are part of a great nation faced by an economic crisis, global tensions and an environmental mess. Our schools are falling apart, millions live without health care and families are losing their homes daily to foreclosure. That's a broad overview of issues our next administration faces. I am by no means an economist or scholar - just someone who cares about others and hopes we can all learn to sacrifice and think about the greater good as we head into the new year.

So, tomorrow as we watch President Elect Obama become President Obama, I encourage us all to remember he was elected because of a successful grassroots effort. The next four years need to be continued to be charged by that sense of hope, and that hope needs to be turned into action.