I had to make my contribution to the recording of the life-altering Inauguration experience.
I decided to spend Inauguration day with my 28-year-old daughter, her 32 year-old-girlfriend, her girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter, and my mother who is 66 and struggling with dementia.
We gathered at my daughters’s house and watched all the pre-ceremony hype like millions of others around the globe. We marveled at the millions of people and the entire event and much to my surprise, my daughter and her girlfriend popped up on que to take the oath of office right along with Mr. Obama – that was a tear-jerking moment for me as I watched these young ladies without prompting stand and raise their right hand and repeated after the words of Chief Justice Roberts as he swore in Mr. Obama (no, they used the Mohammed Ali movie box…"He’s The Greatest”….uh-hmm).
Anyway, they stayed on que…and I was most moved by the language they inserted as “they” were sworn in…”WE promise….WE promise…WE promise…). I thought “WOW” how powerful it is for my daughter who is (was) so unconcerned about politics and the bid for the highest office because she believed, it was nice for a black man to get that far, but he would NEVER win……The 'girls' cried more than me when the oath was over and I laughed with joy.
Meanwhile, my mother was being entertained by the 7-year-old and in and out of dementia mode. However, by the time the parade finally started, she was very attentive as the Obamas’ cruised down the parade route. It is funny how with dementia, you lose track of reality, but then you speak sooo much thought-provoking words as the mind struggles to keep up. My mother suddenly stayed attentive to the television as Mr. President and the First Lady stepped out of the car and walked and waved at the crowd. “Who’s that?” She asked a couple of times.
“Grandma, that’s Barack Obama, the First Black President of the U.S.” My daughter repeated. I thought I would never stop crying when my mother finally said, “Ohhhh-yeah. What movie is this again……?”
Agnes B. Levine
Author of: "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 0975461206 Winter 2009 Release Pending
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Posted By: agnes levine
Wednesday, January 28th 2009 at 8:49PM
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