Barack Obama's Inauguration as the 44th President of the United States - We were there!
Some members of the PS 8 Community were lucky enough to attend Barack Obama's Inauguration in Washington D.C. on January 20th. PS 8's own Melissa Browning (3-305) and Noelle Gentile, PS 8 Drama teacher were there, and Katherine Davis attended with husband, John Davis, and sons Roman (1-205) and Theo (3rd grade at PS 282).
Here are their stories.
Melissa Browning:
On Saturday January, 17th, Noelle Gentile, her sister, and I boarded a bus and headed down to Washington D.C. for the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama. We stayed with a friend who graciously opened his house to us and 5 other out-of-towners.
Noelle Gentile, Amanda Gentile and Melissa Browning excited to be at the Inauguration!
Over the weekend we took in the sights of our Nation's capitol - the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, to name a few. We also attended the free Sunday concert on the National Mall where we got to see U2, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Beyonce perform and also get our first glimpse of our president-elect in person!
On Martin Luther King Day, we participated in the National Day of Service by cleaning up trash in a D.C. neighborhood.
Then on Tuesday, we bundled up, braved the cold and headed down to the Capitol for the inauguration. I was completely taken aback by the sheer number of people who crammed onto the Mall with us. There was no pushing, shoving or disrespect, simply a sense of serenity in the air. As Obama was sworn in and gave his speech, the crowd became electric. People cheered, jumped in the air, and proudly waved the flag. A new era in our nation's history had finally begun.
Katherine Davis:
When my sister-in-law invited us to her Capitol Hill home for the inaugural weekend we did not hesitate about taking Theo and Roman out of school for two days. This was a once in a lifetime chance to participate in the making of history. The boys will be able to sit their grandchildren on their knee and say, their voices wavering with age and emotion: "I was there when Barack Obama became president."
Well, chances are that conversation will not take place. Roman flatly refused to go out in the frigid cold -- in fact, he wouldn't even get out of his PJs. Theo tried to talk his way out of the swearing-in ceremony but we bundled him up and pushed him out the door.
We walked two miles in two hours. The crowds were so packed sometimes my husband and I had to lock our arms to form a protective circle around Theo -- yet there was so much joy and good will that even in the most crushing crowds nobody lost their temper, nobody panicked, and nobody got hurt. "Even if we never get in, it's just a privilege to be here" one woman called out, to no one in particular. Theo muttered something about this being the worst day in his life. He was freezing and tired from the long slow walk. When we got to the mall his toes were blue and we were very grateful when a kind stranger offered him some foot warmers.
By the time Obama was sworn in Theo was comfortable and had stopped complaining. He only interrupted the ceremony once or twice to ask questions about frostbite. The speech came to us with a delay of about 4 seconds, but the screen was so far away and small that it hardly mattered that it was out of sync. It didn't matter either that we couldn't even see the capitol itself -- we were there. We will be able to tell our grandchildren.
Roman coloring on the train ride home
On the train ride home I gave Roman an illustration to color: It showed a generic man taking the oath in front of an American flag. Roman is very methodical. "I'll start with the skin," his voice matter-of-fact. "Do we have a brown pen?" Then I understood, as I fumbled for the right pen, why the children hadn't shared our excitement. This was normal for them. There will be time for them to learn about history, but for now I rejoice that they can believe that a black man becoming the President of the United States is natural and unremarkable. And now I have hope that some day what they believe will be true.
Posted on: February 3, 2009
