What the inauguratin means to me. CRB

Obama's campaign asked. I answered.

At the times of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Abraham Lincoln, our country's future was unsure-but there was tremendous hope. As I've studied these times I've felt this hope as if I was there myself. I knew the potential power to direct an entire country into a culture of liberty and justice was within our grasp.

As I have gotten older, I've watched our country slip further and further away not only from these ideas, but from hope itself. I read and heard everywhere that government is corrupt, that right and wrong don't matter as much as power. I've seen most people give up hope that things could be righted, as if their efforts wouldn't make a difference. Integrity seemed as obsolete as the parchment the Declaration of Independence was written on.

When President-Elect Obama began his campaign I was interested but doubtful. I'd never voted Democratic before-almost always Libertarian. Good spin seems easy to buy with enough money. But I wanted to see what his message was. I guess hope was weak but not dead.

I liked his message. I liked how he inspired others to hope again. I liked how he mobilized us, challenged us, made us realize armchair quarterbacks could not rebuild a nation.

I never believed he could be elected. I knew how I felt but doubted the rest of the country. Regardless, I did my part. The right thing to do is the right thing to do, even if failure seems immanent.

That he was elected smashed my thoughts about the complacency of this country. Out of that cracked dirt the seed of hope sprouted.

What could be more important than that?

I'm a stay-at-home mother of two. We have a warm home and all of our basics needs are more than met. But I've seen our limited budget cover less and less of the diapers and milk we can't stop buying. I worry about those who have less than us, but we’re able to give less to help them each year as our bills go up. I may not be a mover and a shaker, but I know from ground level what the past ideals have brought us to. I also know what's needed to lift us up.

Thank you, President-Elect Obama, for not only restoring that hope but showing us how to make that hope bear fruit.

My most sincere prayers and best wishes to you, your team, and our country.