Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Nothing to do with horses, but...

I've seen a lot of history happen.

I was in grammar school when Kennedy was shot. That horrible day I barely understood; I remember it mainly because of the image it evokes for me: my mother sitting in her bedroom on the blanket box, staring in disbelief at the black and white TV, wailing in grief.

That was followed by some dark days. People who seemed to promise hope for America and for the world were being gunned down: Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King... gone in a blink of an eye.

Of course, not every world changing event I've seen has been bad: there were the space flights, moon landings, technological breakthroughs that had been barely imagined in Science Fiction stories.

There have been triumphs and tragedies. I have seen things... :)

Yesterday was different. I saw and I participated in history. I voted. More people voted than probably have ever before voted in an American presidential election. The apathy that seemed to have had a stranglehold on America was lifted, thanks to an African-American man who most of us had never even heard of not all that long ago.

It was exhilarating to be a part of it.