I have been waiting for this day since November 4th, or was it since the summer of '07, when I read Dreams of My Father and wondered if a man with such a subtle mind could ever become president? I've been waiting for this moment since George W. Bush was declared President in 2000, or was it since we invaded Iraq?
In fact, I've been waiting for this moment all my life, from the time I was a little girl growing up in a family that cared more about civil rights than any other issue and hated the small moments of racial hatred I saw in Wahsington DC as a kid.
Of course I didn't know what I was waiting for, because I had no intimation that we could find, much less elect, a man of such excellence. Over these weeks, it's the excellence of Obama that stuns me--we are a very lucky country.
I'm Jewish, and the prayer that started running through my head when I woke up this morning is the prayer we say at important moments in our lives and through the year: praised by you, creator of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this moment. We sing this prayer to usher in our New Year, and today, as a New Era for our country and our world begins, I will shout that prayer, in gratitude.
