2008 Inauguration

I'll leave out the part about how my Monday was very hectic, (including a sales pitch from a guy who sells in-ear monitors). Instead, I'll start on Tuesday morning. Inauguration Day.

 My dad calls me at 7 am MST going, "Leslie! Wake up! You're missing it!" No matter how old you are, when your dad says "jump!", you jump! I had just gotten back to sleep after waking up at 4:30 am, still jet lagged a week after my trip to the UK. But I got up with my adrenaline racing, turned on CNN, and saw Barack and Michelle greeting the former president whats-his-name with a present. I was really 3 hours away from "missing it", but dad's enthusiasm was catching.

 Dad told me that he never thought he'd live to see this day, and how excited he was. My dad doesn't get excited about anything. (Well, he really liked the Motown fake book we got him for Christmas, but this doesn't compare.)

I've had my share of difficulties with dad, but at age 71 he's getting a little better; drinking less and even doing a newsletter for his apartment community. The eternal cynic, dad has been waiting for Barack to get shot ever since he announced his candidacy. "I wish he wouldn't do this", Dad said. So basically if dad's worried about him getting killed, /I'm/ worried about him getting killed, no matter what I say or what my intellect tells me. My older sister was born on the same day Medgar Evers was killed. I was born the year after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. For dad, just about EVERY BLACK LEADER he's known has been off'ed - just think about what that does to a person! But Barack made it all the way to the White House without incident. And my dad was very, very happy. I've known my dad for 40 years, and this is the happiest I've seen him. Just think about what that does to a person!