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Ok.

Barack Obama will be my next President of the United States.

It’s been over a month and it’s finally begun to sink in. I feel like I can talk about it without jinxing something. I’m no longer shell-shocked. I have stopped expecting the worst.

Barack Obama will be my next President of the United States.

Finally. A President I can call My President. I turned 18 in 1998. I voted in the 2000 election. My candidate did not win. I voted in the 2004 election. My candidate did not win. I didn’t give up after these losses, I got motivated. On Tuesday February 5, 2008, I voted in a primary for the first time.  It was also the first time I volunteered for a Presidential campaign. Handing out flyers in Hillary country was an exercise in futility. I didn’t care. If I reached one voter, I’d accomplished something.

Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States.

On Tuesday November 4, 2008 at around 8am, I voted for Barack Hussein Obama for the office of President of the United States. I got a provisional ballot as my name wasn’t on the rolls at my polling place. No worries. I brought all my registration paperwork. Nobody was going to stop me from voting. I went to work after voting. I didn’t get a sticker but I didn’t really need one to tell me or the world that I voted. The jacket adorned with Obama buttons probably did the trick. I left work at approximately 6:45 pm. I could have left earlier but I found myself riveted by election return maps and numbers. I went to my friend and coworker Brandon’s house which ended up being packed with Obama supporters. I brought a bottle of wine and some cookies. Luckily he had the champagne.

Barack Obama is the next President of the United States.

We got the official news when NBC called it. The house was buzzing up until that point but when NBC said that Barack Obama had enough electoral votes to be the President of the United States…silence. I think this is where I became shell-shocked. We drank champagne and we talked about things I don’t remember because I was too busy thinking about everything this meant. Change. Hope. Happiness. Mostly the idea that the leadership of this country would finally be someone who would buck the status quo and do what is good for the people.

Barack Obama will be the President of the United States

I left early, drove home, called my family who seemed to be shell-shocked too. I got home and started searching for information about the Inauguration. I have to be there. I emailed the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein to get tickets but I don’t hold out much hope of getting those. No matter. I’ll stand at the back of the Mall if I have to but I will be there.

Barack Obama is the next President of the United States and Person of the Year

I got an email a couple weeks ago from Heather Champ stating that Time Magazine would like to use one of my pictures. I bet you can imagine my response. After communicating with others who got the same email, I realized that Time was working on their Person of the Year issue and that person is Barack Obama. Not at all surprising really but well worth it. I think Obama has earned that title this year. I hope he affects enough change in this country to earn it for the next 8 years.