Journey to Obamaland

The Journey to Obamaland

We met at a church called The Sanctuary. Mom and me joined hundreds of folks going by bus with Congressman Danny Davis. The coordinators of this trip rented 10 buses for us to make the twelve hour trip. Before it was over twelve hours stretched to twenty because of getting lost, stopping for a picture for Newsweek, Bus Ten breaking down. Bus Ten was featured on the news. We drove by caravan so our bus had to wait until bus ten was free to go as well. What made it for me, this never ending trip, was that I was going through this with amazing people.

We came from all over Chicago and as far away as Kalamazoo Michigan. We were brown, black, white, red and yellow. There were teachers with big hearts, an editor from Street Wise, ministers with prayers and encouragement. “We can do this with the Lord’s help,” they prayed. There older women like my mother who had been working for the campaign, praying and hoping for Obama to be President. My mom had volunteered for the Obama campaign for the past two years. Our family is proud of her. There were other families of women traveling together- women bringing their daughters or granddaughter. Everybody was saying ”I was not going to miss this.”

My mom and I started praying to Jesus and Alla to cover all of our bases to ensure a safe journey. We did make it to the Inauguration safely but it wasn’t always a certainty. In Pennsylvania, we passed a burnt out truck…the cab of the truck had burst into flames. We reached our hotel around 9pm. We all breathed a sigh of relief, then cheered the bus drivers.



The next day we left our hotel at 5am for Washington DC. (We were staying at a beautiful resort hotel called the Herrington Standard right on the Chesapeake Bay. Gorgeous.)

Try to imagine two million+ people conversing on the Capital. Our bus went in circles and didn’t drop us off until after 8am. I think to have a good spot we needed to be there at on the Capital Mall by 5am.

In reality though just being there in the area was a good spot. The feeling of unity was incredible.

Off the bus mom and I walked into a Starbucks, we met students from NY, a man from Seattle whose son had worked for Obama on his campaign. We shared our stories-what brought us there. The kind man gave my mom and I two tickets to the Blue Gate. I gave him a rainbow cookie to thank him. We headed out in search of the Blue Gate. We found the Silver Gate and the Yellow Gates right away. We kept walking. Mom and I probably walked ten miles that day.. We found the Blue Gate at the opposite side of the Capital.

The Blue Gate was a daunting experience…there were probably 5,000 people ahead of us…waiting in line for hours…everybody was happy to be there..nice even..folks came from Texas…New Mexico, Pennsylvania, DC…and everywhere else….

Mom and I realized that we weren’t going to get in the Blue Gate. Shortly after we left the Blue Gate, the gate was closed…thousands of us couldn’t get in…but mom and I were okay..we accepted the fact that we couldn’t get in and thought about the best next best way to experience this big moment for Obama and our country. We found some high steps that looked out over the Mall. We couldn’t see anything..but we could hear Aretha Franklin Sing. Mom was tired we found a spot to sit in the Sun. It was around 30 degrees but sunny. In the sun we met a man from Dublin.

Behind us catching some rays and hearing what they could were several hundred people, keeping warm and their spirits up together.

Mom suggested to me, ”Why don’t you climb a tree?” We saw twenty-something students resting on near by branches. I am forty-one and couldn’t see myself climbing. Mom and I found ourselves near a fence on the outside of the parameter of The Mall with thousand of other Americans. A nice couple who were listening to radios on headsets were kind of enough to give us the play by play..”now Nancy Pelosi is speaking..Bush came on stage…people are booing…” and cheering when our 43rd President left the Capital.

Everybody breathed a collective sigh of relief. Amen.

Mom and I started walking again..we wanted to hear the inauguration speech. We wanted to hear it ourselves. We were also cold and tired by this point. We had been outside for four hours. Mom and I sat down on a bench to rest away from the crowds. To our left about 50 yards away was a small group of people standing around another older African American man.

We were curious, so mom and I joined this small group. The older black man(George) was holding a small radio. These small group of Americans listened to Barack’s Inauguration Address on this small purple portable radio that George held in his cold hands. People around the circle wept..I wept. We all were glued to every word and grateful to George. George’s wife wanted to walk on a head and she asked her husband to move on with her. George told his wife that he was going to stay with us with his people until Barack’s speech was over.(His wife did stay until the end of the speech.) Her husband trembled with emotion. These moment with George and this small group of folks were very meaningful to me. We didn’t know each other..but we were cheering, weeping together..feeling so proud of being Americans together. Thank you George wherever you are.

With warm hearts, we walked on..we were ready to find the bus…we walked to the drop-off point. There was no bus..

The Bus…….luckily we had the bus driver’s card. He told us he couldn’t pick us up and we would have to walk to him. By that point mom and I were exhausted. It was about 2:30pm. We had to hustle with achy feet and bones to the new drop off point. We thought the bus driver might leave us by 3pm..we couldn’t be sure what he would do…As we approached the spot where he told us to meet him..he was pulling out…I lumbered across the street and stood infront of the bus to make him stop. He stopped and mom and I got on the bus. The only way folks from our bus knew to come to the new pick up point is if they called the bus driver. There were no coordinators on the bus at this point. We decided as a group to try to call the remaining people not on the bus to let them know where we were and where we could pick them up. Within a few more hours everyone was accounted for. I am very proud of the women that took charge on the bus to find everyone. We were empowered by that day and out of necessity.

Mom and I stayed back at the hotel that night..watching the Balls on TV. The Obamas made it to Ten balls before 1am I heard. We have such a cool President and First Lady.

The next day on the way back to Chicago, Mom and I and the wonderful women sitting close by to us reflected on the experience. We were glad that we went we acknowledged that parts of it were hard-the bus, the cold, not being able to see-but we all had our moments that made it worthwhile. We were all glad that we have a new President. We Did It!!!

Going to Washington DC

I'm off to Washington for the Inauguration. I will be one of the screaming ...happy masses. I 'll be on the bus with my mom and Danny Davis and maybe some peach cubbler from Edna's Restaurant.
Peace,
Eve

Okay

Okay
Things are okay...not really..but presently in this present moment infront of my eyes...no it is cold out side..and why am I not living in Maui..I love Chicago..bbrrrr
Stay Warm!

A New Day

I set the alarm today for 5am..exercised and now I am writing a little bit. I set an intention nd now I'm following through with it. I know my day is going to be better than yesterday because of it.

I an open for new experiences on and off the page...

If Severin can find me on Facebook..a friend from Israel..now living in Switzerland that I knew when I was eighteen..anything is possible.
Amen.......