My Inauguration Day started with texts from my friend Betsy who was in Washington. It was fun to post them as soon as she sent them and it made me feel connected to the crowds in DC.
As the day progressed friends texted and emailed their feelings about the day and it was a pleasure to put them on the blog as well.
We watched the swearing-in and the speech in our living room. My daughter stayed home from school and we broke out the champagne even before Joe Biden took the oath of office.
We poured so much champagne I was tipsy by the time Barack Obama uttered the words, "My fellow citizens, I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you
have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors…"
Being tipsy didn't stop me from appreciating every word of Obama's well-crafted, brilliant, historically resonant, sobering and at times quite lyrical speech.
spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet,
every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or
vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained
faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding
documents.
By the time he uttered the words:
let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave
once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said
by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this
journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes
fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great
gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."
I was like: Yes, yes we can have a brilliant and articulate president who understands history, the severity of the situation our country is in, and has a clear vision of what needs to happen.
We toasted, we touched champagne glasses, we cried and we smiled. It was beautiful time in our Third Street living room.
I took to the streets to take the pulse of Seventh Avenue and all was quiet:
–The citizens were in their apartments glued to their television screens
–or at work watching in conference rooms, on the streets of the city, anywhere there was a screen.
— The students of PS 321 vacated the school and were at the homes of classmates watching TV and having lunch.
— Many Slopers were in Washington, DC.
–Some had ventured to BAM where two screening rooms were showing the speech.
I dropped into the Community Bookstore where a crowd gathered to watch streaming video of the ceremony in the back of the store. There was emotion and food a-plenty, wine and champagne flowing…
Back at the apartment, my tipsiness turned to tiredness and I took to my warm bed and slept until I was awakened by the raucous sounds of the inaugural parade on the TV. Luckily I caught sight of Brooklyn's Steppers Marching Band marching down Pennsylvania Avenue…
To be continued….
.