What change really means.....

Tomorrow history will be made. Regardless of who you voted for, there is no denying it will be a sight to be seen. The biggest inauguration to date. History is in our hands. And no one seems to know it better than my youngest son. The fact that a 7 year old is so interested in the race and was so over joyed with the outcome is, all by itself, something worth mentioning. I admit there were times I would stare at him as he got excited overhearing Obama speak and visions of Alex from Family Ties would fill my head. (come on, you remember that don't you???) But in the next hand, I was proud that I have been able to hand down the sense of thinking outside ourselves to my children. We are a split house, canceling each other out in the polls, but I vote. And I make sure my kids see me doing it. I speak at the table about things I hear on the news, I chat on the phone and push my girlfriends to research the causes before voting.
I guess some of it has rubbed off.
But, I wasn't aware of it until a trip to the bookstore. I admit, I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. After much complaints, I opened the book up and rushed through it one day. I was then very antsy to get the rest of the series and went out the next day to find it. This turned out to be harder than it sounds. All the bookstore were sold out and I ended up dragging AJ from place to place in search of the series. Finally, at the local Borders, I saw a display near the front of Twilight and went immediately to it and in search of the others. I stood there enveloped in vampire books and I saw out of the corner of my eye my youngest move to the table next to me and gasp in excitement (and as loud as possible)

"MOM! Look! Obama wrote a book!!!!!"
I stood there with my hand wrapped around a teen vampire book and was so proud. I did it right. I made a difference. I don't know how. I am sure it wasn't by that particular example. But I did it. It doesn't matter to me who he votes for, what political side he chooses, what matters to me is that he sees it as a part of normal life, that he is excited by it and he is making the choice now. And regardless of what anyone says, this Presidential election was a big part of that.... it changed history already. People sat up and payed attention. People were passionate again. People voted. I am glad I already got to see it in our future.... I somehow feel stronger. Because, really.. history is made today, and I was a part of it.