The kids don't know what to do with me. Mom, dancing at 8 A.M.? Before her coffee? For freakin' out loud, what is going on? "Oh! Bama, Oh! Bama, he's the new president, the new president," I sing, skipping around Hamish's room this morning. His response? "I'm hungry." Everyone I talk to can't believe the relief they feel, we didn't know how stressed we were until California's polls closed at 11 P.M. last night. I didn't go to bed until 2 A.M. and this morning Stella woke up crying at 7 because she peed in her bed and I couldn't be happier.In the shower, I remember one of my favorite songs from The Wiz, "Can't you! feel a! Brand new day! Can't you! feel a! Brand new day-ay!" Who the hell am I anymore? What happened to the surly reluctant mom I once was, in America's dark age, just yesterday?
I feel the pride of, well, of a mother for our country for the choice we so clearly made. As my friend Danielle wrote on her facebook page, "I am so gay for America right now." I wish I'd said it first. I hope I can communicate the hugeness of this day to Hamish and Stella. The historical landmark it is, how it fills otherwise jaded and cynical grown-ups with the same wonder a child is naturally made of, and maybe, just maybe I can get Hamish to sit and watch Obama's acceptance speech and show him what class and humility and grace and brilliance really look like.
