What a setting. The magnificence of the Capitol draped in red, white and blue bunting, the Lincoln Memorial with jumbo television monitors so school children could sit at Lincoln's feet while a man with the blood of Kansans and Kenyans swore a sacred oath on Lincoln's bible; the masses of people who were waving silver, blue, yellow and purple tickets in the air, begging the security detail to let them through the gates to witness history; and finally, the profound silence of two million people listening and watching breathlessly until we all heard the words, "so help me God"....
A joyous lifting of hearts and voices exploded then, and fists clutching American flags, cell phones or cameras were thrust into the air as Barack Hussein Obama stepped forward to address the nation as the 44th president of the United States of America.
I turned with tears streaming down my face and began clicking photos of the faces around me, strangers until that moment, now bound to each other in joy and celebration. There was the stunning face of an elderly black woman, light streaming from her eyes, as lit up as a Christmas tree. The fist in the air of a beautiful young woman with a Russian-style hat. The muted sounds of clapping of a gloved man with a cowboy hat, his smile as wide as his face.
Later, as I leaned wearily against a pole on a crowded subway, a woman caught my eye and we both began to grin, then laugh out loud at the sheer audacity of the scene we had played a small role in on the Mall on this cold January day.
