Election Day

Two days ago I took part in a historic election. I've finally recuperated from the hoopla to write about this.

The next day I was tired and suffering from a major headache because I was still reeling from the drinking the night before, which I wrote about in the last entry.

My husband and I got to the polls in the morning. There was somewhat of a line but it wasn't nearly as bad as the other polling places that I've heard about (where there were waits as long as 8 hours). We were in and out in about a half an hour.

We both selected Barack Obama. Even though he had been ahead in the polls, we were both worried about a possible last-minute upset.

That afternoon I had a doctor's appointment (just a physical examination in preparation for surgery that I'm having later this month). I was kind of drained afterwards so I went to Border's to browse through some books. Afterwards I walked over to a nearby Starbucks because the entire coffee chain was giving away a free cup of coffee to anyone sporting the "I Voted" sticker that people got after they finished voting. The free coffee was nothing fancy--it was just an eight-ounce cup of black coffee--but it was free. I did add some cream, sugar, and spices in order to make it palatable.

That very night my husband and I went to an election watching party that was held at the home of one of my husband's co-workers. The people there were nice but my stomach became jumpy again. I think my body was still reeling from the hard drinking and eating greasy food the night before so I wasn't in a total party state of mind. I managed to drink only one glass of white wine before my body decided that it had enough drinking. I ate some food as well. It was better food than what I had at The Quarter House in Silver Spring the night before but my stomach was reeling from the eating after a while so I stopped eating as well.

After a while my husband and I headed home where we watched television and learned about the shocking news that America had elected its first African-American president. I had such a hard time thinking that this was a reality that I stayed up late into the wee hours for the second night in a row. I saw footage of a gathering in Chicago where I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson's face in the crowd and his eyes were brimming with tears. I also saw Oprah Winfrey in the crowd as well.

In the meantime the news coverage cut over to Phoenix where I saw John McCain give his concession speech. In a way, his speech was a pretty class act and it was too bad he didn't make more such classy speeches during his campaign. It wasn't until past midnight when the news coverage went back to Chicago where Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters emerged on the stage and he gave an amazing victory speech.

I didn't go to bed until 1 a.m. that night. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure whether what I saw was a dream or a reality until I saw The Washington Post. Yes, we really did make history. November 4, 2008 will be the most memorable Election Day for me ever.