Savoring This Moment

Today is a great day; A wonderfully historic day; A day we have been waiting for, seemingly forever. Today is a day to savor, so I am savoring this moment.

It's Easy to Love "Now" Today

It’s easy to savor the moment today of all days, for today a stain has been lifted from our country’s flag. A commentator for ABC News in New York reported seeing an African-American woman and her daughter celebrating Barack Obama’s victory in Times Square. He watched her as her knees buckled and she almost fainted. He turned to see what she was looking at, and there on the big screen was a picture of all 44 presidents, with Barack Obama in the middle. The commentator said to the woman, “12 of those men owned slaves.” The woman replied, “That stain has been washed away today.”

Today is Our Day

That she could say that, that she could feel that the stain of slavery has been washed away, is an incredible and amazing miracle. For anyone who has ever fought for civil rights, for those of us who have marched in the rain against racism, who have stood in the face of bigots and challenged them, who have been discriminated against, or who have risked our status or safety to come out in support of someone who had been discriminated against, this is our day. This is our day to savor. And so I’m savoring this moment.

This Moment and Every Moment

And I am thinking, yes it is easy to savor this moment. The whole world is in a celebratory mood, and they are dancing with us. They are saying, “only in America where the unlikely can become the likely!” We are the home of the brave and the free again. In the face of fear and doom, we have chosen hope and possibility. And the world is with us. It is easy to savor this moment.

So Yes! Let’s celebrate today. We have earned it. And let this day help us to always remember that every day is a day to savor this moment. It may not be as easy on a day when challenges come, or when it does not seem like the world, or anyone, is with us. But it is always a day to savor each moment, to focus on what we desire, and to celebrate being alive.

To Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness! I am proud to be an American today.