45 for the 44th

Wow. It actually happened. I actually saw it (sort of - the video of the feed was a bit behind the audio). I know the nation did not actually decide to give me the present of an historic occasion for my birthday, but nonetheless, that's what I received. I'm a little stunned. In a good way. I was alive for the first time an African-American became the Chief. What was it like to be alive the first time an African-American could vote? The first time a woman could vote? What was it like to be alive when slavery was declared to be at an end? I was alive for the end of segregation by law, but I was very young and it didn't sink in.

I hope to be alive when we truly look at a person and judge them on their actions, words, and deeds. And not by the color of their skin or their religious beliefs.

That is what I have been given. Hope. That this presidency will be the answer to all our problems? Nope. That the minds of my fellow citizens may open more, may embrace their fellow humans as equals. Yep.

And that...

That is stunning.