Inauguration Day

Milo,

I wonder what history will remember about today, the day Barack Obama takes office as the 44th President of the United States. It is an important day for so many reasons that you won't really understand until you are much older. My hope for you is that your world will not see skin color, black or white (or anything in between). I think my generation is getting close to that ideal - a fact I have realized only recently with all of the news coverage about Obama being the first black man to take the highest office. I sat in front of the television this weekend and cried as the newscaster talked about how far we have come since the 1950s. Many of the things they were showing from that era, ways black people were treated, are truly unfathomable to me - and it was such a short time ago!

Great men and women fought for this change and Obama is their crowning victory. I have to say, although I respect that immensely, it is not the main reason why I am so excited for Obama to be the leader of our country. He won't be perfect (who could?) but I trust that he will go into office with an open mind, will educate himself on the issues, will listen to others when needed and after arming himself with all of that knowledge, will make necessary decisions himself. I think that he will try to lead in a positive, truthful way as much as he is able. I think that he will change course if he sees his actions failing. I think that his belief in himself and in his ideals will lead him but not bind him from seeing other peoples' truths.

Your daddy and I have so much hope for his presidency. His words lead us to the type of world I want you to live in. What an amazing task to live up to all the hopes and expectations people place in him... I pray for his safety and that the burden of all that hope does not weigh too heavily. I wonder. I wonder what history will remember about this day, about this man.

With my love and hope,

Mommy

The visions we offer our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps. -Carl Sagan