Day 967 | Inauguration Day

Inauguration Day 2009. Photo credit: Jason.

The scene is gloomy around here. Not only outside the window where the sun hasn't shined all day and a constant drizzle fills the air, but inside, too. That's how I feel: gloomy.  I'm trying hard not to dwell in the things I can't change and instead focus on what I can do. That's hard, though, when just eight years ago on this exact day I was filled with more excitement + enthusiasm + hope than I remember ever feeling. 

Back in 2009, Chris and I headed down to the Mall in Washington, DC (we used to live there, remember?) to welcome + celebrate the inauguration of our 44th President: Barack Obama. I have a terrible memory, Chris can testify to this fact, but I can remember the emotion and butterflies I felt that day like it was yesterday. It dawned on me this morning that I have a written report of that day that I sent to some close family members on January 19, 2009. I've shared it below, in case anyone is desperately in need of reading material. I remember that girl. I remember those moments. I remember the hush that went over the massive crowd. 

A lot has changed over these past eight years, no doubt. But as I look forward, I am thankful to live in a country where even a contentious election results in a peaceful exchange of power. And I think of all of those folks that are feeling that deep sense of hope in our 45th President. Maybe he'll surprise us (in a good way). I hope so. 

Upon further reflection, I also realize that I'm missing my DC home + friends dearly. It feels strange to be watching the events of today unfold here, in Wisconsin, after being there, in DC, for the last two inaugurations. Although I rarely felt connected to the political scene there, just living there and walking those streets and being surrounded by the importance + history of it all was enough. Today I'm feeling disconnected. Disconnected with my friends who are still there (and who I miss constantly, for the record) and are going about their day-to-day tasks while a monumental event occurs just miles away (because that's what you do when you live there). And disconnected with my country as this democratically-elected official takes the oath of office. 

Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow. Ok, maybe not tomorrow...but someday. Some day.

**Note: if you read through this replay of my experience of the 2009 inauguration, you'll see I mention the number of people on the Mall that day. Here's a link to a photo of that day in 2009 vs. today's crowd...in case you're wondering.

SUBJECT: TODAY

Awesome. Just Awesome.

It’s an overused word that still doesn’t seem to express the emotion of the day. 

Our trip to the Mall started last night when we drove down to Chris’s brother’s house. They live about 15 minutes from the Capital so we were able to avoid all modes of transportation. We started getting “high traffic” alerts at 5am. The Mall opened up at 4am along with the Metro and the parade viewing area opened up at 7am. We woke up at 6am and planned on leaving at 7-which we did. The swearing in ceremony started at 11:30am, so we weren’t expecting to get an amazing view, but we definitely didn’t expect the mass of people we had to contend with. We packed blankets and food because we thought we’d be able to spread out a little-that definitely didn’t happen. But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Again, we left at 7am. I mentioned that we were about a 15 minute walk to the Mall. Because the parade route was between us and the Mall, we had to walk all the way around the Capital and enter from the opposite side. All the roads were closed downtown so we were walking in the middle of a major lifeline into the city-a six lane road. The site of that was enough to trigger the feeling of “this is something special”. Slowly but surely, we merged with more and more people. By the time we were about 1/2 mile from the Mall we were engulfed in wall to wall people. We just kept moving and finally ended up at our destination around 8:15am. We realized very quickly that there would be no sitting for the next four hours. By the time we found our spot, we were about a 1/2 mile away from the Capital, but managed to get pretty close to a jumbo-tron. Everyone was literally shoulder to shoulder. The parade route that opened up at 7am was closed by 9:15am because it had reached capacity.

Although it was not an ideal situation for anyone, the crowd was in good spirits. People would break into occasional outbursts of Obama chants and the jumbo-trons were replaying the concert from Sunday so there was a little entertainment. We spent most of the time concentrating on staying warm. Oh, and did I mention that our 11 month old niece was with us, too? She was fantastic actually-a real trooper!

It’s hard to express the emotion of the actual ceremony. The wait in the cold all of a sudden didn’t seem so bad when Obama and his family stepped out. The mass of people just erupted.

Obama’s speech was exactly what it needed to be. I think the crowd (including us) would have listened to him for hours. Who knows if it will be quoted for years to come, but it’ll definitely be a speech that goes down in history. The pure jubilation in the crowd of millions (the latest estimate is 2.2 million), was utterly breathtaking. It was an extremely diverse group of people which reflects the variety of people that Obama has touched. What an amazing day in history—all of a sudden the “American Dream” that we all hear about seems possible once again, even if the world we’re currently in is struggling a little. The theme of the Obama campaign was realized-the crowd was filled with the hope that Obama often spoke of. 

Since the parade route was filled, that was the end of our Inauguration experience. We patiently filed out of the Mall along with the millions of others. We happily walked by the blocks and blocks of lines for the Metro and buses. Our walk back took about an hour and a half and was filled with some reflection, but mostly just enthusiasm for the moment. 

Looking back, it won’t be the long walks or the standing for hours or the massive number of people that stick out in my mind. I’ll always remember being one of the 2.2 million people standing speechless and practically breathless as Obama spoke his first words as our 44th President. 

Here are some great photos that my brother in-law took that day. 
-The journey begins
-Waiting
-What the crowd has been waiting for
-Heading home