Staring History in the Face

I could go on and on about how hopeful I am, I could write about how excited I am to see the world change before my eyes, I could tell you how happy I am to be proud of the people, but I'm guessing you've gotten the gist of that by now, and you've probably heard others say it better than I can. Instead I'll just tell you about what happened to me last night after the election was over.

I walked a friend home after an election party and heard what could only be described as "elation" buzzing through the street. I saw a large group of people sweep by and round a corner. I stopped, took a deep breath, and said to myself, "If I don't follow them, I am going to regret it." I wandered through the crowd, winding through the University District, until we arrived at Red Square, where hundreds of people filled the steps of Suzzalo library, chanting "Yes we can!" "Yes we did!" and a couple failed attempts at the star spangled banner. It was amazing. I found a couple of friends, we stared at the crowd, and we stood in awe and reflected on the fact that we, the people, had changed the world.

The crowd began to dissolve, but a large throng continued down the street. I found some more friends, and decided to keep going, no matter where the crowd was going. I wanted to be able to look at text books in the future and say yes, I was there, I joined in the celebration. My friends and I walked all the way from the University of Washington to Broadway and Pike, on Capitol Hill. In case you don't know, that is a long freaking walk. There was even a moment when we lost a member of the party, the adrenaline was dropping, and the celebration seemed just out of reach. But no! The two of us who kept going were well rewarded.

There, in the street, was a huge group of strangers, so many of us with not much in common, but we were all there, we were all happy, we were all celebrating, and we were all proud to be American. It was a night I will carry happily for the rest of my life, it is a night so many of us shared, and so many of us will look back on fondly. Thanks strangers, thanks friends, thanks fellow Americans. Tomorrow looks pretty exciting.