where wildly different is perfectly normal
Photos, as promised
Photos, as promised

Photos, as promised

I swear, I meant to get this done Monday night. And then one thing after another got in the way including, but not limited to:

  • my husband still in pain and still doing school meetings every night
  • A had late start today (bleh)
  • the boys have fall allergies/back to school colds
  • they shared with me, the little shits
  • I’m going on my scrapbook retreat tomorrow for four days and am running around like a headless chicken (I’ll be missing again now til probably Monday)
  • Princess hates it when I do more than one thing on the laptop at a time. Little priss.

So there are all my excuses, bad as they are.

But holy hell the speech was incredible I can’t believe I got to go and this MAN IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!!

Ahem. That hurt my throat.

Monday was a very long day. We got there by 9:30 and saw this:

the long, snaking line

This was the line to go through security. We waited for an hour and a half. Thankfully it was a beautiful Colorado morning, sunny and pleasant. Everyone was excited, pumped up to be there. I bought some “Kids for Obama” buttons for the boys, signed up for a mail-in ballot, chatted with folks around us. The boys were fantastic, no complaining. We just told them it was practice for Disney World next summer.

A waiting patiently

Once we got through security, a bathroom run was in order (this was held at a local high school, and no, they didn’t cancel classes). I managed to get both boys and myself through the bathroom in record time and dashed back up to find Tom, who was right at the front of the line to go into the gymnasium. And heard those frightening words: Standing Room Only. I don’t care, let me in, let me in!!!! All the way to the top of the bleachers, at the top of the stairs. The boys sat on the stairs right in front of me, Tom snagged the last possible seat (remember…very painful back…and it was his birthday)…and I stood. By the firefighters, may I add.

Tom got a seat

boys waiting patiently

We got speeches before The Speech. Several, as a matter of fact. And we waited. And I stood. And we waited. And I stood some more. And we waited. And I cursed heartily, for I stood (and ached the whole next day). The crowd, about 2500 of us, was pumped, excited. We cheered, we did the wave. We passed the time in good company.

the waiting crowd

Obama

And then, finally! Obama’s speech was fantastic. )He was late because he was working on the bailout bill backstage.) The room was just electric when he came in. He spoke eloquently of the economy, and described this whole economic fiasco as landing in Denver: you know you’re gonna land, but it’s gonna be pretty bumpy on the way over the mountains (and if you’ve ever landed in Denver, you know how true that is). He spoke of improving education, and improving healthcare, and making things better for everyone, not just the privileged few.

It’s so difficult to put into words how I feel about this candidate. I truly believe that he wants to lead. Being a leader is difficult; a leader is the one at the head of the line, breaking a path. A leader is not “my way or the highway” but “we need to work together for the betterment of all.” When Obama gets into the White House, things will change. And maybe I won’t wince when the President speaks, or want to apologize to the rest of the planet for the situations here that end up affecting them, or teach my kids new words as I yell at the evening news.

So I’ll just say that I am proud to be an Obama supporter. I am absolutely elated that I got to hear him speak in person; that meant so much to me. Again, difficult to say why. But I feel such hope and anticipation and eagerness for the future when I hear him speak, emotions I haven’t felt in so many years.

7 Comments

  1. The words that hit me in this were “I’m proud to be an Obama supporter.” That’s the truth. It has been a very long time since my country has given me much to be proud about. Until now. Yeah, I’m proud to be an Obama supporter, too.

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