Hope

Dear Mr. President,

Oh, how my heart swells when I think that is your proper title now! What a wonderful day yesterday was -- a day that will live in the hearts of so many people around the world.

A day that marks the *real* turn of the century for me.

I hope you and your lovely family took a few minutes yesterday and today to really feel the import of the day. I imagine it's a lot like a wedding day, at least my wedding day, when you are so busy the day gets past you except for those few stolen moments where you stop, and breathe, and try to take it all in.

I had to remind myself to stop yesterday. To remember the tears streaming down the faces of people in the crowd. To remember Aretha's marvelous hat. To really absorb the reality of the sun shining over the white Capitol dome as if it were the first time, the blue sky, and the bright hopes and aspirations of a nation falling on your shoulders.

I cried along with those thousands on the Mall. I felt so proud of our nation, so proud to have played a small part in helping you get elected, so incredibly proud to know that our new leader is a strong, principled, brilliant husband and father who is firm in his resolve and ready to meet the coming challenges head on.

We need you. It has been a long 8 years. Many of us are disheartened. We have wondered, from time to time, how we were going to make it through. We have watched the Consitution being abused, been lied to repeatedly, and listened to speeches from a man who, despite his high office, seemed incapable of stringing more than 3 words together coherently.

In 2003, I was driving my minivan on the highway, on a cold foggy morning. My 3 little boys, ages 5, 4 and 1, were with me as I heard the news of the first casualty in the war in Iraq. He was 19, and I wept as I drove. I was against this war when it was a mere idea, and I was told by many, including the President, that I was unpatriotic because of my dissent. I may not always agree with your decisions but I am confident that those in disagreement with you will not automatically be dismissed as unpatriotic and/or hysterical. I cannot find words to tell you what that means to me.

For several years I have told people that I believe in you. That I see in you inherent goodness. That you are thoughtful, intelligent, eminently logical. That you see the world through eyes that recognize that the United States is not the center of things, that other peoples, other nations, are deserving of the same freedoms and simple pleasures we take for granted here. That you are not perfect, but you are the best person for this job right now. That you will be a leader who will help us build the America we all want her to be. That I know you believe in me, and in all Americans, and in the ideals of this nation we all love.

And now, the work begins. You called on all of us to sacrifice, to work together for our common good, to begin the hard work of remaking America. Mr. President, I stand ready to do my part in bringing to reality the America we all want to see; that shining beacon of liberty and justice, the place where dreams come true with vision and hard work.

I believe in you. I believe in the promise of America. I believe together we can do anything we set our minds to.

My cell phone ring tone is your voice, saying, "This is Barack Obama. It's time to change America. Answer the call."

I am answering. I am ready. And I have never been so excited to stand and face the future, and know that together, we will make that change happen.

Yes we can.