What an awesome day

Amazing. That's all I can say. Last night was the incredible end to a 21 month odyssey for both our country and for Barack Obama, our President-Elect. (I'm tearing up just writing that title).

As someone who has lived in the South for over 25 years, I've seen some pretty amazing shifts in attitudes - and seen some who are still resistant to such changes. Subtle racism exists all around us - and not just below the Mason Dixon, I realize; it's just a little more overt here. Even today, some here are expressing disbelief that an African American will be our next President.

And yet, and yet. I look at my adolescent students and realize that most of them never saw the color of Obama's skin. They were able to look at the politician - no, at the statesman - and judge him by what he was saying. Some have confessed to me that they've been at odds with their parents during this election season. And yet, they've ignored their parents (as every teenager does) and supported their candidate.

The President-Elect has inspired the old and the young alike. I've watched my 22-year-old niece become inspired by him, so much so that she was volunteering 8 or 10 hours a day for the past few weeks. And she in turn inspired her mom to stand on a street corner with a "Honk for Obama" sign for hours this weekend.

Personally, I had not realized how much I wanted him to win until 11 o'clock last night. When NBC projected Obama as winner, as the cameras panned the jubilant crowd in Chicago's Grant Park, I suddenly realized that I was sobbing. What an incredible, historic moment. One that I feel blessed to have been a part of and to have witnessed.

Today, truly, anything seems possible.

Even signing Tek for a reasonable price.