The first time I heard of Barack Obama, I was seventeen, sipping an iced mocha from Donna's, and foolishly lusting after my curly haired, Irish Catholic, and utterly infuriating classmate. He, like most of the people in my class, was ardently political; he was an anarchist, frequently unwashed, frequently partying. I am sorry to say that I barely listened to his political ideas. But I remember - I was sitting in the park on a hot Baltimore fall day, and he mentioned Senator Obama. He remarked that he was African-American, and I dismissed completely any possibility that Senator Obama could successfully run for president. In this country? After four and quite probably eight years of right wing, fundamentalist power? No way.

I didn't think of Senator Obama again for three years.

And suddenly the campaign came upon us - politics became the main subject in the news, at school, with family, at my grandmother's kitchen table. Barack Obama was handsome and young, but I wanted so desperately for Clinton to win. A woman, a powerful woman in office? Impossible, and tempting. But by the primary she had turned to the world of backbiting and politicking, and Senator Obama was still young, and handsome, and undeniably honorable. The first time I was eligible to vote, I teared up that my generation, all the Brendans and Dorys and Christas and Mikaelas could put someone in power who was strong enough to bear it.

And on the night he was elected, I cried again because it meant that maybe, some day, my friends could get married. Maybe we didn't have to be subjects of the fundamentalist cause. Maybe kids in school wouldn't have to debate race issues; maybe my sister wouldn't be called a racist just for being white, as I was.

His speech was like an echo of Maya Angelou's poem - she wrote:

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.

So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.

And he said:

"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."

This, I thought as I drank champagne and cried, this is what we've been waiting for. This thing that I never believed could happen has happened, and on Tuesday we're giving our country to a man who wouldn't have won eight years ago, to a man who speaks like a poet. This is our time.

First, I have to say to Alice, that was very nice. I'm not going to be quite so eloquent.

I read Barack Obama's THE AUDACITY OF HOPE several years ago and thought, "Wow! This man has just put my beliefs into print. How can I help but respect him?"

Fast forward a couple years and he's on the campaign trail and I thought, "Wow! How can I help but follow him?"

Election night, teary-eyed I felt so much pride in my country and I thought, "Wow! How can I help but HOPE!"

He has a tough road ahead, but that fact only makes me respect him more. He is a leader I feel we can trust, we can respect, and we can follow. Yes, WE CAN!

I have lived through a number of presidential elections and so have heard many promises made and seen many promises broken once the candidate takes up residence on Pennsylvania
Avenue. Mr. Obama's ascendence to the White House makes me cautiously optimistic for the future, however. His emergence from a middle class background beset with his parents' relationship woes mark him as a man of the people. (His kindness to Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried daughter was telling.)

Race will always be an issue he will have to deal with, just as every black American who was the first in his or her field has done. Obama's detractors will point to his skin color when he falters; his champions will point to it when he succeeds. By the end of his presidency, would that we, as a people, will have learned that the measure of a person is their character, and not their skin color.

Since Democrats have traditionally championed social causes, I fervently hope and pray that Obama follows this tradition. Remember the vulnerable people among us, President Obama - anyone who has been marginalized because of their skin color, disability, sexual orientation, country of origin, religion, economic background, age.

President Obama goes forth into the fray with many inherited burdens. May he prove equal to the task and leave a legacy of only prosperity, peace, and harmony for his successor.