Wednesday, January 21, 2009

he spoke to me

Yesterday I waited for H to come home so we could watch the Inauguration together. And despite seeing it eight hours after everyone else, the proceedings still felt momentous. Obama's speech isn't being lauded as "memorable," but a few points seemed to speak to me directly--my parents certainly packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans so that we might live a better life. Even the fact that he included the word "Hindu" hit home, and that's not even my religion.

Sepia Mutiny's Anna was there, and she captured some of what I felt:
You are what you look like. And to the vast majority of the world, I look Hindu. I’m not ashamed of that at all. Today, I felt celebrated for it. I felt included, even though my actual faith was mentioned first, in a group which was organized by a man magnanimous, courageous and heedful enough to include “non-believers”.

If every American could feel included, there's a much better chance we will work together to turn this ship around. And in these frightening times, the hope that things will get better is what I'm relying on to make it through.

4 comments:

Noelle said...

I squealed audibly when Obama gave a shout out to the non believers.

Librarian Girl said...

So many awesome things about that speech, and the two parts you mention were poignant for me too. What a day!

Anonymous said...

Yesterday was an amazing day. I felt like I was in a daze and I couldn't focus on work. I thought the speech was very memorable, especially for GW.

SupaCoo said...

Not "memorable?" I doubt I'll ever forget the day. Maybe not the specific words, but the feelings as I sat halfway across the world. The tears of joy. The exhilaration of a nation. THAT is memorable.