tears of joy
I don’t usually cry with happiness, but I’ve been tearing up all day. Because for 22 months, Obama has been telling us that the United States can live up to its highest aspirations, can make real the story that this is a place of unparalleled opportunity, and last night we did it. So many people feel like they own a piece of this victory, because they volunteered or gave money to the campaign, and that’s something wondrous too. I keep looking at the pictures of people dancing in the street, or the tears running down Jesse Jackson’s face, and then I well up again. By 9am today, you couldn’t buy a copy of the Washington Post anywhere downtown because people wanted them as souvenirs.
All day long I’ve been humming Ella’s Song to myself — it’s the Sweet Honey in the Rock song that begins "We who believe in freedom shall not rest until it’s come…."
Obama’s got a tough job ahead of him, and yes, there’s no way he’s going to make everyone happy who supported him. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be celebrating today. As Marge Piercy writes:
This is the blessing for a political victory:
Although I shall not forget that things
work in increments and epicycles and sometime
leaps that half the time fall back down,
let’s not relinquish dancing while the music
fits into our hips and bounces our heels.
We must never forget, pleasure is real as pain.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melach haolem, sheheckianu, v’kiemanu, v’higianu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who gave us life, who sustained us, and who enabled us to reach this day.
November 5th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Good.
And now, nationally, we need to GET A FRIGGING JOB.
November 5th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I did not vote for Obama, mostly because I am a lifelong Republican (not a terribly conservative one, though–I did vote against Props 4 & 8 here in California) and because I have not been impressed by the workability of the policies he’s outlined. However, I am proud to be an American when I see the passion that he has excited in so many, and I sincerely hope that his term proves me wrong in all misgivings.
I also want to thank you for your blog, and the way you always make your point without making it sound like anyone who disagrees is crazy.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:29 am
I feel truly blessed to have reached this day, to have a son who saw this day, that my parents and my grandmother have all seen it too.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:30 am
I feel truly blessed to have reached this day, to have a son who saw this day, that my parents and my grandmother have all seen it too.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:34 am
You know what made me well up with tears? Seeing the shehecheyanu at the bottom of your post. I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but it is absolutely, positively, perfect for today…”who enabled us to reach this day.” Thank you for this.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Thanks for the Marge Piercy poem. That says it all.
Still tearing up with joy and amazement,
Eve
November 6th, 2008 at 9:10 am
PS–I’ve been thinking of using the Shehecheyanu in my blog as well, but I’m going to use it to refer to my daily life as a working mother!
November 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am
TC, I can’t claim credit for thinking of it. I read on another blog that someone had posted it in the comments section at fivethirtyeight.com
November 6th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
A great day. And I hope there are many more to come!
November 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
One struggle down and one more to go – a woman in the executive branch. This election was bittersweet for me since I am a staunch Hillary supporter. It is great to see how we as a nation have matured and reinforce that democracy works. That sends more hope around the world than forced nation building. I think this will create a better global reception of our country -that we the people can embrace change and make it happen.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I know that Obama is a politician, and eventually I’ll get over the irrational excitement about his election. On the other hand, I will never get over the completely rational excitement I have about the change this election represents, for the world that your children and mine will grow up in.