Inaugural Party Celebration at Ilana and Bob's

OUR OBAMA CAKE

On 01/20/09 Naomi and I went to an Inaugural celebration party at our niece, Ilana, and her husband, Bob's, home in Milbrook, NY.
The election of Barack Obama as President has been such an amazingly important piece of our life (and millions of others) for the last few months. Not that we have done that much personally to ensure its happening other than the contribution of money to the campaign and voting and talking about it every chance we got, but because it has occupied so much of our consciousness. It is as if all of our doubts, fears, and anxieties about all things were wrapped up in this one event that was unfolding before our eyes. I carefully watched at least three different polling web sites and another web site that was a summary poll of all the other polls. We watched for each gaffe in McCain's campaign. We trembled and worried Obama's campaign decisions - was he not being strong enough? - was he being too flat, too intellectual? - was he taking too conservative a stand on some issues?
We are thrilled, and relieved, at his election and 'swearing in'. The long nightmare of the Bush-Fundamentalist years is over! Our extended family members are excited and eager to move on in their lives. The great depression of our spirit and the spirit of our country is over. We can move on to make the world a better place. I keep having this vision of Aretha Franklin at the podium in her wonderful hat/voice exulting in being herself. I felt like I was there with her basking in her pleasure and her ability to articulate her feelings. Tears of joy continue to run down my face even thinking about it.
Enough already! Ilana's party was a great vehicle to celebrate this great time with like minded people. Bob and Bruce and I spent some nice boy time standing around a bonfire with a couple of other folks, one of whom provided a 'voodoo doll' to send off in the flames to another world stuck with the pins of our afflictions from the last few years. The people who tried to reverse the last thousand years of civilization (Referring to the 'Writ of Habeas Corpus' and the rise of 'Reason' as a couple of examples) have at least temporarily been sent back to their caves.
Thinking of Ancient History, it appears to me that we have to go all the way back (about 2500+or- years) to the Nubian 25th dynasty of the Egyptian Empire to get to the most recent time a person of Black African descent was the chief executive of a major world power. This election is pretty historic. (Someone is sure to prove me wrong on this - if you know better, please tell me)