my experience at the Presidential inauguration

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So I'm back in my hotel, going to watch the parade on TV, good call since they are running an hour behind.

I got out to the security checkpoint to enter the National Mall at 4:45am, ended up in the middle of the crowd on the mall between 5th & 6th streets. the reflecting pool was about 1/3rd of the way to the capital building. I was roughly 6 blocks from where the President stood to swear in. It was in the teens with windchill, and 8 hours of it should have left me chilled to the bone, but even an hour later when I got back to my hotel, I was warm throughout.

The crowd was predominantly African-American. I had people around me from Japan, Austrailia, South Africa, Morrocco, and several states including Georgia, California (like myself), Oklahoma, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. We all chatted to pass the time, and I found many of them had worked on the Obama campaign, most brought their children.

Listening to President Obama speak live is amazing, and the tv doesn't do justice to the feeling he invokes in the crowd. The energy was brilliant during the ceremony, and tears flowed all around me when he took the oath of office.

It's really hard to explain fully the feelings of the moment, I just don't feel words can project how truly amazing that moment was. I think it was the first African-American President, our countries long historical problem with race and lack of equality, the ignorance and blind ideology of the last 8 years all rolled up into one huge release of expression, emotional and joyful.

wish I could do this justice, but it was an experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life, and wish that everyone could experience.

LONGRD

Great post. Thanks for sharing, wish I could have been there. Glad you had a great moment.

Arcticangel

Sounds like a great experience. I know that this is a day a lot of us will remember for the rest of our lives..your story is just a lot more exciting. (Well, I drove home from MN, watched CNN on TV, then went to work... haha)

leafs4ever

amazing story and i'll bet an even better experience for you. To think, you just experienced something live that will never happen again. AMAZING!

thanks for sharing your experience with us

decides2dream

awesome.
8-)


i can only imagine what a moving experience it must've been.....glad you got to experience it first-hand.

chiquimonkey

thanks so much for sharing that, sounds like a moving experience to be there, you're lucky!

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a girlfriend of mine thinks Hillary Clinton will be on the ticket as VP in 4 yrs, Biden will retire, and then she will run, if Obama is re-elected, 4 yrs following. So we may see another big inauguration in 8 yrs. Got to think women will come out for that in droves, as they should.

you never know what the future may hold.

Fifthelement

Sounds like it was an awesome experience. You are so lucky to have participated personally in a moment of profound historical importance. Thank you for sharing.

pureoc

Thanks for sharing, sounds like an amazing experience. Watching on TV was nice, but I'm sure it didn't do justice.

pjfan31

Certainly a great moment in history. I kept my TV on over night. I came on at 3am, so I didn't see much as I was falling asleep. But I have seen a lot today. I am pumped and he isn't even my President.

I love the line he said something about Leaders of the East People will look at you for what you can build not for what you destroy. That was awesome.

Heatherj43

I thought people were crazy to stand out in that kind of cold! Whoopi Goldberg was asked if she was going to be there and said, "no, thats whay they make TV'S". BUT, as I am really grasping what occured, I would had loved to be there. I can only imagine it was an experience that words could never truly describe.
You have witnessed live a big milestone in US history. I hope u got lots of pics, etc.

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Heatherj43 wrote:

I thought people were crazy to stand out in that kind of cold! Whoopi Goldberg was asked if she was going to be there and said, "no, thats whay they make TV'S". BUT, as I am really grasping what occured, I would had loved to be there. I can only imagine it was an experience that words could never truly describe.
You have witnessed live a big milestone in US history. I hope u got lots of pics, etc.

if you dressed right, then it wasn't really cold, we kept each other company, told stories, and the time went by fast until the inauguration ceremony, that seemed like it was 3 hours, slow motion, so surreal. I'm a big history buff, both ancient and US. In the 1770's, Jefferson stated that 'all men are created equal', but of course he only meant rich white landowning men. In 1862, Lincoln proclaimed the end of slavery. The 1960's brought us turmoil in the fight for equality, the Kennedy's lost, the passing of the voters rights act in '65, Dr King taken from us. Not until the Presidential election of 2008, and inauguration yesterday have we come close to showing equality. It's a truly major step, but not the end all. Another big step some day will be the first woman elected President. Woman's equality get's lost sometimes, though I'm sure not by woman. Even after that, it's the day to day lives of Americans where true equality needs to happen to meet Jefferson's words and Dr. King's dream.

I met a man that missed Dr King's I have a dream speech, he was in college, and all his friends went, but he also had a job to help support his family, he said that seeing Obama inaugurated as President, and getting to vote for him made up for missing the march on Washington in '63. I thought that was very cool.

I'm just a white boy, but yesterday I was one non-discript citizen among 2 million equals.