Thoughts on an Election....

I really wish I were a poet. Or something of a writer. I wish I could adequately express what election day 2008 was for me!

I woke up in the morning and it might as well have been Christmas! I was so excited to be awake. "It's election day! It's election day!"

I braved the Utah wet, torrential rains and cast my ballot at my polling place en route to work. I checked the electronic voting machine 4 times to be sure I had placed my X squarely in the box that said 'OBAMA/BIDEN.' I submitted my ballot, returned my electronic card and got my super nifty "I voted" sticker, which I proudly placed on my sweater.

I joined colleagues at work who (let's face it...the humanitarian world is a pretty liberal world) share my political views and excitedly waited for the polls to close. I also hit up all the places offering free snacks and treats for displaying your "I voted" sticker.

After work I went to a colleagues home in the Avenues and watched the election results as the polls closed time zone by time zone. It seemed like minutes later John McCain was standing before a podium conceding defeat (what a fantastic concession speech might I add)...and then...it was Obama's turn.

I was not prepared for my reaction (though friends say I should have known). I began to cry! Through my tears I said to my friends, "I feel like I can finally believe in my country. I have been waiting for years and years to be "proud" to be an American. I feel like I now have a chance to be so incredibly pleased with what my country can do for this world."

My words cannot adequately express what that sentiment means to me. To finally have the ability to HOPE for a better future. That's what Obama represents to me, politics aside, he represents HOPE, something most of my generation (who went through college during the Bush years) has not been able to do.

I thought on the many African brothers who cheered Obama's name when they learned I was an American. Obama is hope for the rest of the world too.

The moment that defined this election year for me came the next day. I was at the airport for a late night pick-up of refugees from Somalia and Kenya. The Somali arrival had a cousin (who had been in the US for several years) waiting with me at the air-port for her to arrive. The cousin and I chatted near the baggage claim. We were talking of war-torn, 'failed state' Somalia. I said to her, "who knows, maybe someday you will go back to Somalia and help fix your country. Perhaps you could be the President!"

She turned to me and enthusiastically said, "Yeah! That's a good idea! If Barack Obama can do it why couldn't I?"

:). Yes, HOPE. Obama inspires hope. Thank heaven for that, for that is what the world needs right now to heal from the scars we have faced these past few years. Hope.

Yay OBAMA and GOD BLESS THE WHOLE WORLD! :)