O-ba-ma! (January 20, 2009)

I was standing, tip-toeing, shivering, squatting, wiggling my toes (Are my toes still down there?), and squeezing myself with 5 other people from 5 different states on a planter with a 3 ft. diameter. Almost seven long, bitter, cold, hours, waiting for the 44th President to pass by on 10th and Penn. "What was it that made me do this crazy thing?" I thought.

That pretty sums up my experience of January 20, 2009.

I met a lot of happy, hopeful, interesting people from everywhere across the states and across the globe. I am moved by their stories on why they came. Two couples from Wilbur, Colorado ("a small town," they said) drove for 27 hours, through blizzards. Wow.

What was it that made me and millions of others brave the cold that day?

Hope.