Inauguration Day

When I was a teenager, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were murdered. I can still recall the shudder, the chill and the despair that I felt during the days following their deaths. Barack Obama’s speech on race reminded me about why I have been supporting him for over a year. I hope we will have the benefit of his leadership for my children and my grandchildren.

I wrote these words during the campaign. At dawn on January 20th, I found myself on a plane bound for Dulles Airport. Neighbors had warned me that I would be warmer and have much better viewing of the inauguration ceremony on my kitchen television. I thought of their words when the outdoor temperature at the airport read 15 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew that I would be walking and waiting in long lines and it was quite possible that the president-elect would look like a dot in the distance. But there is always the enticement about being at an historic event in person.

In 1967, my grandparents took me to hear Dr. King’s Friday night sermon at Temple Israel in Boston. Standing in the back of the sanctuary while listening to Dr. King’s riveting stories about marching from Selma to Montgomery, remains one of the most memorable moments of my high school years. In 1970 when we were Tufts University students, my friends and I boarded a bus to march on Washington after the invasion of Cambodia. Lobbying our senators on Capitol Hill and linking arms with tens of thousands of people purposely striding in unison past a White House protected with bunkers and armed troops, felt like an instant in time when our voices were heard.

Witnessing Mr.Obama take the oath of office was the culmination of a journey for many. My husband and I were part of a group who raised money for the campaign and awareness, person by person. We had believed in this man’s thoughtful intelligence and measured ability to lead since we met him in February of 2007 while he was seeking supporters. As we began to walk with the masses that were winding their way toward the Washington Mall and the Capitol Building, I was amazed with how orderly and good-natured everyone seemed to be. Our group had seats and we waited for more than an hour to pass through security and find our places.

Behind us were an elderly African-American couple accompanied by their extended family. The shivering grandmother explained that she was used to Florida warmth. We gave her our fleece blanket to drape around her shoulders. Her son graciously snapped photos of us with our camera. We did the same for the young couple snuggling in front of us. Although the air was chilly, the sun beamed on the gathering and the wind stayed at bay until the final benediction. Only then did the sun slip away while the helicopter bearing our former president and his wife disappeared behind the clouds.

During the inauguration ceremony, the mood of the crowd was solemn while the awesome presidential power shifted in a stunningly calm way. With a rhinestone studded hat perched atop her head, Aretha Franklin sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. Later Itzhak Perlman and YoYo Ma treated us to a new arrangement “Air and Simple Gifts” created by John Williams.

It was the actual oath of office followed by our new president’s poetically strong words that reduced people to tears. When Obama referred to those who paved the way and “…endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth…” the gentleman behind me murmured, “that was me…” When Obama extolled “our patchwork heritage” and alluded to African Americans not being served in local restaurants less than 60 years ago, the woman sitting beside me put her face in her hands. Later she looked at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. “This is our time,” she affirmed.

We looked behind us at the millions of people cheering and waving American flags in front of the Washington monument. As we made our way back to the corner of New Jersey and Massachusetts, strangers helped strangers navigate around the low stone walls, park benches and landscaping posts that were not simple to see as the veritable sea of humanity surged out of the Capitol grounds. People were smiling, gleeful and yes, they were hopeful.