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Like millions of others, I watched the returns come in Tuesday night with increasing excitement about so many things: the history made and message sent that we will elect a black man president because he strikes us as thoughtful, intelligent, and inspirational at a time we need all of it; the end of the small-minded Bush years; the realization that we may have slept while thieves looted our governments and businesses, but maybe we’re waking up now, and maybe it’s not too late.
More than anything, though, I was moved by the sense that we are all in this together. Traveling all over the city Tuesday, I was blown away by the level of civic interest and participation I kept encountering—the excited chatter at the bus stops; the little kids talking about the election with their parents as they walked home from school; the old ladies with walkers headed into the polls, followed by the young guys with struts; the eyes fixed on the TV at the corner bar. It is exciting to feel part of something bigger than yourself, especially when that something is rooted in the ideas of compassion and shared responsibility.
