the inauguration.

dear pratt,

today barack obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the united states. here is a piece of trivia for you. there have actually only been 43 presidents. grover cleveland was both the 22nd and the 24th president. thank you dr. berry :) see, i know a little about history...after all, i was a history minor.

when you grow up, you'll love trivia. my all time favorite board game is trivial pursuit. but i'm not a good player. when i know the answer, i shout it out really loudly and really quickly. i don't consult my partner(s) for their take on the question. this is a fault of mine. and when i get something right...i usually run around the room and scream for a good two to three minutes. i'm actually pretty good at trivia. i don't know why. i guess because i have probably watched a million episodes of jeopardy.

but my dad...he's the best trivia person ever. he knows everything. about everything. well, except deer hunting and butterfly catchers. but that's a whole different story :)

i'm sure when you grow up, you'll probably think the same thing about your daddy. i think that's what kids are supposed to do. think their parents are smart. good thing you've got your dad...

you watched some of the coverage with me. you love the tv so it's not hard to get you to focus on it. and i'm convinced that you knew what was going on.

i cried. of course i cried. i cried as soon as i saw a little boy named kenan. he was with his grandmother. he was 8 years old. and he had a t-shirt with obama's picture on it. and he was carrying a periscope. it was so sweet. they had driven something like 18 hours to be there.

as much as it has already been said...i couldn't help but think about how after today that little boy can go home and dream of being president. and it will no longer be something that seems so unattainable.

i heard a poem this morning and thought it was great. i have searched for who said it...but i can't find their name. but here it is...

rosa sat so martin could walk.
martin walked so obama could run.
obama ran so our children can fly.

that is how i feel today. proud. proud that you will grow up with obama as your first president.

as i watched president bush board the plane taking him back to texas, i couldn't help but feel sorry for him. feel sorry for his girls. and his wife. those girls have had to endure so much over the past 8 years. so many jokes, so much fodder about their dad.

i remember going to a basketball game with my dad. he was a referee for many, many years. i was young. and i can remember sitting there, and hearing a man behind me yell out, "hey you stupid ref...get some glasses!". he was talking to my dad. and immediately, i turned around and said something to him. something like, "hey, that's my dad. he doesn't need glasses!"

i was young. it hurt my feelings. and it's something that obviously still bothers me. silly, i'm sure. but as kids, our parents are so important to us. and it's hard to see them criticized.

so i'm sure mr. bush and his family while nostalgic, were also glad to get out of the spotlight.

anyway, today was a great day. we'll continue to pray for the obamas as they make the white house their home. i cannot wait until you get big enough for us to travel to washington as a family. i remember my first time there. it's quite a place!