hope

[ewein2412]

Tim says:  "So--now I would feel good about moving to the States."

What Tim keeps likening this election to is the fall of the Berlin Wall, a thing he "never expected to see within my lifetime."  And it does feel a bit surreal, still.  I am so used to keeping my head down, and all of a sudden, for the first time in *years*, I can walk down the street waving an American flag.  Which I did, last night, on our way to the Perth city fireworks and bonfire.  (this is mark, of course):

Afterwards we had a wonderful bonfire party with our next door neighbors.  We do the bonfire in the BBQ because there's no where else to put it--been collecting sticks and last year's xmas tree and blue wrapping paper, which makes the flames go green (as Yalies of my generation will know).

 

There were drinks and nibbles in the summerhouse, and we had sparklers and rockets and the left over jack-o-lanterns lighting the path...
 

...and my lovely neighbor brought us a bottle of pink champagne with which to toast the election results.  The kids toasted red-white-and-blue star-shaped marshmallows (these are the neighbors):

  
 

I feel a bit more human this morning, having had more than 2 hours' sleep.  But I still can't quite believe that I'm not dreaming.

 

My mother died thirty years ago next week at the age of 35.  She was born in the same year as Obama's mother, and of a similar idealistic, openminded temperament (she didn't marry a black man; she married a gay man, knowingly, in 1963.  She was the daughter of a United Church of Christ minister, and her husband was Jewish.  They adopted a mixed-race baby during their three years in Jamaica).  It makes me weep, to try to imagine what she would have thought of this election.  I suppose, in her way, she fought for it, back in the '60s.  She EARNED this election.  God, I wish she could have seen it happen.
 

I can go home now. 

 

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estara  and everyone else, here's that link again: http://heroes.cnn.com/

Comments

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

oh, man. Welcome to the new world.

[sharonafyre.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I feel about it, and I still live here.

For 8 years, except for a brief month in 2001 which need not be named, I have felt shrinking pride that grew into disdain for my country. What horrible fear mongering! What obvious greed! I had lost all impulse to contribute to my community because it just seemed so pointless. After a lifetime of community volunteering, I dropped everything and kept my head down and just lived my suburban American life. My will was squashed. And now, 36 hours after the news that Obama won, I can feel the social activism bubbling back to the surface... I feel like the spell of hopelessness has been broken, the blindfold of fear has fallen off, and I can see the world again. It needs a lot of help and I feel the desire to work on it spring back, fully formed, into my will.

Go Team Humans!

PS - Thanks for sharing about your mother.

Voted!

[estara.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing your memories. That's the things about Americans which we Europeans admire: when they want to stand up for their beliefs they go all the way at personal risk. We're often too complacent for that.

[mhari.livejournal.com]

*hugs, and hugs, and hugs*

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Chris said the same thing to me. =)

I'm still grinning. I can't stop.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Is that Sarah Palin holding the sparkler?