TO BE A PART OF HISTORY

If the Superbowl is played and I am not there to see it, the game will go on and history will be created. If I watch it on TV and go through all the emotions I might have had while there, I feel as much a part of history as those who paid a small fortune to be there, who froze in line (or roasted, depending on where they were), and I probably got to see more of it in the comfort of my home. I do not have to physically or emotionally suffer, be pick-pocketed or suckered financially, to be a part of history. I just have to live and take notice of that which goes on around me.

What then is this nonsense about having to go to Washington for the Inauguration 'to be a part of history'. Some people need the crush of bodies, to 'feel' the emotions and excitement of those around them, in order to feel a part of the experience. I do not! My pride and excitement came on the first day of Obama's presidency when I heard that he immediately stopped the last minute changes and directives GW gave on his way out, that do not fit the direction in which the majority of the country wants to go. It comes from his allowing agencies that offer information on birth control to, once again, get funding; it comes from the knowledge that stem cell research will be permitted (though many of our best scientists have gone to other places where they have been able to research in the last eight years); my heart lifted in hearing that off-shore drilling will be stopped as will may other threats to our environment and our way of life as it was prior to GW and his Gang of Greedy GOPs.

In the 40s, I was a part of our country's history as we thrilled with pride for our country and felt close to strangers because we knew we were all pulling hard for the same goals...to bring our service men and women back safely, to rid ourselves of the overt threats to our country, to work as hard as we could to be a help to that cause which would bring us back to a better and freer life. We all agonized together when WWII ended but the cold war began and we feared a nuclear attack. Having been through that process, once, made me feel a part of history through that feeling of hope that our combined efforts would succeed in reaching our goal. A few months ago, I didn't need to crowd into Washington to prove my vote mattered or that I once again could enjoy the feeling of hope that our lives would begin to improve and we would see less suffering, poverty, illness and death of our own citizens here in the USA as well as the rest of the world.

What, then, was the reason so many poured into Washington yesterday? Perhaps minorities needed to show the strength in numbers and the pride they felt for having reached a bar that should never have been set for them. The hypocrisy of this country, of the whites who have felt superior to other races, has no excuse. For the 'Christians' who assume the same superiority, it only pushes me further away from respect for anything they proselytize.

It is unlikely that Obama can make right the wrongs of the previous administration and relevant that he has turned a massive tide. He is gifted, intelligent, but more importantly, prepared for the office to which he was elected. My living in history is currently with shame, that our country became so powerful that we could destroy so much of the world's economy and the lives of so many people added to those killed or wounded, orphaned, tortured, imprisoned without due process; and violation to our reputation throughout the world seen no longer as people who care about human rights and laws, let alone following agreements like the Geneva Conventions and Treaties we once promised to uphold.

A generation ago, some of my in-laws waited in line for hours to be the first to go over a bridge just opening. I was not among them. It seemed a worthless use of anyone's time since it required no real effort or expertise to achieve. The bridge never knew or cared nor did anyone else. The achievement died with those relatives. My small road to personal achievement is to be a person who will live on in the memory of others as someone who positively influenced their life course in some way that may be reflected in their parentling. I will do it in a small way. Obama will do it in a big way. All who achieve to better this world will be a part of history. Crowding together to feel good by the achievement of others, vicariously, doesn't work for me...apparently it is all some others can strive to achieve. Hope, integrity, morals, kindness and lots of other good things CAN rub off. Maybe that is what happens in events like the Million Man March or crowding into Washington to witness the Inauguration, for some.