I stood in the small speech therapy room of a Title I school in Aiken, South Carolina. The t.v. had seen better days. The picture was a little fuzzy and the sound fought with an odd buzzing that came from the speakers. Snow swirled outside and the heater clicked off as he placed one hand on the historic bible and raised the other. I held my breath. His voice was clear, the oath was short and, when he finished, I wept.
Brushing aside my tears I dashed down the hall to grab my last two kids of the morning. As we came in I grabbed the remote to mute the television. We settled into our seats at the table and one of the boys, both kindergartners, glanced at the television's screen. He stared at it a moment then said, "Thank you, President Obama."
Thank you, indeed.
I was there...and it was glorious. If you'll give me your e-mail address, I'll share some photos.
Posted by: thatfarmgirl | January 21, 2009 at 07:46 PM
I was on the treadmill. If I'm going to try optimism, I'm going all out.
Posted by: Michelle | January 21, 2009 at 09:50 AM
About a dozen of us -- some staff, some library patrons -- watched it on the fancy plasma screen in our simulation center. When they went to swear in Biden, someone said, "I'm standing up." So we all stood up, during his oath, and during the President's. It was amazing.
Posted by: janna | January 20, 2009 at 07:14 PM
I was at work. We plugged in the TV and hoped the cable hadn't been cut in budget cuts. It wasn't. I ate my lunch and watched my new commander in chief be sworn in. The speech was awesome.
Posted by: Sandy | January 20, 2009 at 04:49 PM
What a wonderful place to have seen and heard the speech.
Posted by: kmkat | January 20, 2009 at 03:59 PM
Eloquent child!
Posted by: Chris | January 20, 2009 at 03:19 PM