Inauguration Day - A Few Days Later

It has taken me a couple days to get my act together...getting over the jet lag and simply processing the events of Inauguration day has been a bit of a task. The day was a whirlwind of rushing to wait. The immensity of the crowd was beyond my imaginations expectation...but I really had nothing to compare it to so it should not be such a surprise that I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. Roughly 2 million people..numbers like that are thrown around on a semi regular basis and because we hear it often enough, we think we comprehend what it actually means. But not until you are walking among the said 2 million can you really begin to know immensity of it. I was overwhelmed...overwhelmed by what it meant to be in a crowd that size, overwhelmed that that many people were also "possessed" to be there (because to call it less than a "possession" would be sorely inaccurate), overwhelmed that I would not only witness history in the making but be a part of that history. I am sure my friends and I (like many others) will appear in thousands of photo albums, to be shown to those who could not join us, as nameless masses who "were also there."

Once we braved the subway, walked the streets, and stood in a very long line in a tunnel in DC to get to the "Purple Gate" that bore the name of our inaug tickets, we finally made it in the gates and got to our place in time to watch Aretha sing, the swearing in of VP Joe Biden, the orchestra play and finally (what we had been waiting for) the swearing in of President Obama. it was a humbling and moving moment. I WAS THERE! President Obama spoke eloquently to me and the world...and we listened intently to his message with hope and gladness in our hearts. We made it!

Shortly after his speach we began the trek back to Taisha's. It took sheer determination (and a little strength) to make it back down the subway to Bethesda where we were staying. By the time we arrived, we were worn out. we watched the rest of the events on TV while I prepared for my flight to Dubai that evening. I was in a haze all afternoon, I tried to work but could not stay focused. I finally gave up and declared the day a National Holiday in my mind, closed up my computer and watched the parade.

I have to thank Taisha for her hospitality, Celisa for her positive spirit and motivation, and Penny for her mob connections (AKA as the AKA's and her Dad) that can manage to get tickets to anything they put their mind to and mostly because some very significant moments in my life have been spent with her.