on january 20, 2009, i awoke in san jose at 8 a.m. local time and realized that it was 11 in d.c., so i leapt out of bed and went downstairs to watch the inauguration ceremonies. soon tamara was up and began constructing an array of small wooden toys and silk tassels that she said she was making for obama. 'obama' is a word she can read or at least easily recognize; it's so phonic and has the same 'a's as tamara. i saw the bungled swearing in ceremony and most of obama's address and of course aretha's amazing made-in-detroit hat. and cheered at the bushes leaving. hooray for that too.
then off to the airport, heading home. i checked in with a handsome black guy who was just beaming and said that someone had a laptop behind the desk so they could catch glimpses of the ceremony. i watched more on the tv monitor in the sports bar in the airport. it seemed like an appropriate time for a bourbon on the rocks before i flew off to minneapolis. there again everyone was gathered around the tvs near the gate, and strangers were chatting happily with each other, commenting on michelle's dress and barack's cool aplomb on the dance floor.
i took a cab from the detroit airport home. the young driver from west africa, and he was happy as could be that barack was a 'real african' as his father was not african-american. we chatted about the various problems in the world. he listens all the time to npr and the bbc and was very well-informed. also very concerned about how difficult it is for him to support a wife and two small children with no insurance.
at home, jm and i watched their appearance at the final ball together, looking a little tired, but very happy. as were we all.
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