My father is a huge political history buff. It was his birthday in September, and my husband and I decided we wanted to take him to the Inauguration Celebration.

We booked before we even knew who won. That wasn’t really the point. My dad is a Republican. It is history, and we wanted to come together.

We reserved our hotel and flight before everyone wanted to come, so the cost was pretty reasonable.

I teach 10th through 12th graders at the Frazier Mountain High School ComTec Academy. I teach about citizenry.

One of the lessons from this is that it is important to partake in historical events and to be a part of your political future. Voting is a part of that and it is exciting to be a witness to history…being a good citizen.

Our motel was in Arlington, Virginia. We left at three in the morning to get to the National Mall on Tuesday.

I can tell you it was really cold—23 degrees with a wind chill of 18. I had on two pairs of socks, two pairs of long johns, a down jacket, toe warmers and hand warmers— and it was still freezing.

It was also incredibly moving. We met all kinds of folks and everyone was really excited to be here. The metro opened up at 4 a.m. and we were on it at 4:10.

There were 240,000 tickets given out for the ticketed sections. All of those people were getting off at the same stop! It was really tight.

We met a lot of nice people. People were on their best behavior, all excited to be there. We were ticketed from Congressman McCarthy’s office in the silver section of the mall.

Obama’s speech on citizenry was exciting—about what it means to be a citizen. Democracy requires everyone to contribute, getting past the barriers of parties and ourselves and working together.

I think Obama’s message of community can translate from a large political scale to right here at home on the mountain.

For one thing, as a role model, I’ll share this with my students. I’ll encourage them to take part in their community locally and nationally.

My father, Doyle Blackwood of Bakersfield, is a Republican but he wasn’t disappointed. He was intrigued by much of what he’d heard Obama say. He has been very open to Obama’s presidency.

Beyond the inauguration today, being in our nation’s capital has been a very moving and powerful experience.

I’m exhausted, but happy.

Return to: Inaugeration Fever Keeps Them Warm

This is part of the January 23, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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