Four years ago we huddled, shivering and cold, amidst a crowd in Alexandria, Virginia. My husband held our daughters, two and four years old, on his shoulders so that they could see the President take an oath on the Lincoln bible, so that they could witness this moment in history on a large flat screen on the outskirts of DC. My oldest daughter, Camille, shouted "Obama, Obama" on our way back to the car, where we listened to the Inauguration speech, songs and poetry of the day. This was the closest we would come to the U.S. Capitol, where other friends had ventured earlier that day.
This year, though, we huddled in warmer quarters- around a laptop on a table in my kitchen. My six year old, Elisa, was more interested in a Tinker Bell movie she wanted to watch, but Camille was eager to share in the historic moment that was taking place, yet again, Live from Washington, DC. She watched intently as our President stood, and as he took his oath, this time on the Bible of Martin Luther King. And she listened as he spoke his inaugural speech, evoking over and over all the people who make up in their diversity the richness of this nation.
We are a part of history-- the lives that have come before, and the lives that are coming still. We are still coming- from Lincoln to King to President Obama to the eight-year-old child who watches from a kitchen screen. What moved me most about the President's speech was that my child could hear from his lips a vision of an America that she will remember, one that she can understand and believe in. She could hear him say that the equality of women matters; that the love between gay people matters; that the wellbeing of the poor matters; that the safety of children matters; that the hopes and dreams of immigrants matter; that the future of our planet earth matters. She could hear the promise of an end to a war that has been waging since before her birth. And she could hear the conviction that it takes each and every one of us-- not the 47% or the 1%, but the 100%-- to make this future possible.
While profound speeches do not sign bills into action, they are the poems which call our best hearts forward, which evoke our highest ideals. And now that these things have been spoken aloud, it is up to each of us to fulfill the promise of that call. This is the promise I yearn for my daughters to live into.
*This post is part 3 of a series-- Exploring Standing on the Side of Love with my family.
This year, though, we huddled in warmer quarters- around a laptop on a table in my kitchen. My six year old, Elisa, was more interested in a Tinker Bell movie she wanted to watch, but Camille was eager to share in the historic moment that was taking place, yet again, Live from Washington, DC. She watched intently as our President stood, and as he took his oath, this time on the Bible of Martin Luther King. And she listened as he spoke his inaugural speech, evoking over and over all the people who make up in their diversity the richness of this nation.
We are a part of history-- the lives that have come before, and the lives that are coming still. We are still coming- from Lincoln to King to President Obama to the eight-year-old child who watches from a kitchen screen. What moved me most about the President's speech was that my child could hear from his lips a vision of an America that she will remember, one that she can understand and believe in. She could hear him say that the equality of women matters; that the love between gay people matters; that the wellbeing of the poor matters; that the safety of children matters; that the hopes and dreams of immigrants matter; that the future of our planet earth matters. She could hear the promise of an end to a war that has been waging since before her birth. And she could hear the conviction that it takes each and every one of us-- not the 47% or the 1%, but the 100%-- to make this future possible.
While profound speeches do not sign bills into action, they are the poems which call our best hearts forward, which evoke our highest ideals. And now that these things have been spoken aloud, it is up to each of us to fulfill the promise of that call. This is the promise I yearn for my daughters to live into.
*This post is part 3 of a series-- Exploring Standing on the Side of Love with my family.
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