I had to be here.  Chicago is my hometown even though I live in Seattle now.  It was great to be at "Obamapalooza" with my son.  We didn't have tickets to the area where he spoke but Grant Park is huge and the masses gathered in front of jumbotron screens in the beauty of downtown Chicago to experience this historic event together.  The diversity of this city was displayed in all it's splendor.  The weather seemed to understand that this would be a night like no other and cooperated with a 70 degree day and a 50 degree night. There were tens of thousands of people all peaceful and hopeful and focused on the screen playing CNN's coverage.  We waited for the first polls to close.  In a moment of complete irony a negative ad from the GOP trust played scenes of Rev. Wright and the word hate showed on the screen.  Needless to say everybody boo'd as I frantically fumbled through my bag to get my camcorder and snap a photo (will upload that shortly). 

As the afternoon turned to evening the polls began to close and the projections rolled in.  We cheered at the percentages when for Obama and booed when they favored McCain. As states were called cheers rang out in increasing volume. The crowd grew in size as the states stacked up in Obama's favor.  At the top of each hour more polls would close and we anxiously awaited the resultant projections.  When the logo for projections came on the screen everybody stood up with intense anticipation followed by exclamations of joy upon seeing Obama's image next to a yellow checkmark in the box for state after state.  Then they called the election and the crowd went wild.  Naturally my camcorder battery died at that moment, and I fumbled for my spare.  From that point on no one sat back down.

We waited for the speech.  By this time I had to move around the park as my son grew antsy.  He found a spot on a paved path where he could practice kick flips on his skateboard while we waited.  I chatted with my friend of 36 years who met us there. First was John McCain's concession speech.  It was gracious as was the crowd who clapped at appropriate moments and reveled in the experience without gloating.  Then approached the moment we had all been waiting for, to hear Barack Obama give his speech accepting the will of the people and the presidency of the United States of America.  We watched CNN on the screen at the north end of the park.  There were three screens southern most screen started to play a local feed showing the stage and people started to run towards it.  Then the center screen showed the local feed and the crowd continued to drain away from the CNN feed to watch an empty stage.  Eventually the north end screen showed the stage too and people started to run back towards it to get closer and have a better view.  It was a comical moment.  We waited with anticipation and after what seemed like a long time Barack Obama entered the stage with his family and we cheered and cheered and cheered.  Then he gave his beautiful speech to a rapt crowd.  At one point someone, a man's voice, called out "I love you".  People smiled and chuckled, it's a feeling held by so many.

 After the speech ended people started to stream out of the park.  The perimeter fences had been moved to accommodate the hundreds of thousands.  The streets were closed to vehicles and a sea of people filled street after street.  There is something about seeing that, about being in it that is amazing.  I've been here before after fourth of July celebrations but this was different.  There was a calm and a joy and an energy that was unmatched.  Crowds streamed to the north and south and west.  We turned north on Michigan avenue and walked with the throngs.  Spontaneous cheers would erupt accentuating the feeling of unity, hope and happiness that was shared by all.  We've won.  All the time, work and worry has come to fruition and the future looks brighter today than it has in a very long time.