45 years later

Last night, Dan, Ian*, and I watched, as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America.

It was a touching moment.

For the first time in our country's history, a person that is identified** as an African-American, has been nominated for the highest political office of the land.

I fully planned on watching Obama speak, but what was very unexpected, was how emotional (in a good way) it was for me.

I was proud that my grandparents, who were born in the era of "Whites Only" restaurants and bathrooms, were able to witness this. I'm sure it is a day, that never thought they would live to see.
I was excited that my parents, who were students that experienced desegregation of public schools, experienced this.
I was excited for people of my generation, that have witnessed a plethora of firsts for African-Americans.

But most of all, I was excited for Ian.

See, I'm hoping that for his generation, seeing an African-American nominated as a presidential candidate, or any other office with high standing, will be something of the norm. I imagine Ian fully knowing the history of Black people in America, but not being able to even imagine a time where the color of one's skin determined their worth.

We may not all agree with Obama's political positions, but put that aside for just a moment. Last night, the 45th anniversary of MLK Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech, was a historic night not only for African-Americans, but all Americans. It was a night that said "we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood", and that, is change I can believe in.



*Ok, Ian was asleep, but he was in the room while Obama spoke :)
**Describing Obama as being "identified" as an African-America is not meant to be an insult. Obama has both a Black and White parent, and it doesn't seem fair (IMO) to have him choose between the two. However, when a person sees Obama, he is typically viewed as a Black man, and that is the point I was trying to get across.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Ian

You see this?


This is my living room.

It's nothing too fancy, just a couch, a couple of chairs, an ottoman, a ladder bookshelf, and a TV (not pictured). I show you this photo, not because I think my living room is wonderfully decorated (I'm working on it). I show you this because you will need it as reference for the rest of this story, so just take a good look and stash it in your memory box.

*****Picture it*****

It's a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon and Dan and I have been straightening up the house. As we tidy up each room and move on to the next, we make sure to close the door to the newly cleaned room. It's a precaution, you see. If we leave the doors open, Ian will crawl into the room, close the door, and then sit right in front of it so that we can't open door. As you can imagine, it's the perfect toddler game, but not so much fun for Mommy and Daddy.

Anyway, once all of the rooms were cleaned, Dan decided to watch some TV in the living room, Ian was playing basketball in the corner next to the TV, and I decided to head into to kitchen to make some lunch.

As I'm preparing lunch, and basking in the glow of our freshly cleaned home, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Ian was crawling away from his basketball game. I didn't give it much thought since I knew that we closed all of the doors in the house, which meant he had to stay in the common area. After a couple of minutes of silence from Ian, I decided to find out what he was doing.

"Pooh", I called out. "What are you doing?"

Silence.

Me: "Dan, is Ian playing basketball over there."
Hubby: "Nah, I think he's behind the couch playing with some of his other toys."

Thanking God for open floor plans, I peer over the counter to sneak a peek at the kid.

Hmm, no Ian.

I glanced down the main hallway to see if he was sitting there playing.

Nothing.

At this point, my heart starts racing a little bit. Where the heck is this kid? I'm nervous, but I'm steadily reassuring myself that it was silly to get worked up over this. Obviously he's in the house, and odds are he's fine.

So now I'm thinking maybe I didn't close one of the doors all the way, and he managed to get into one of the rooms. I checked 2 of the bedrooms, and when I still didn't see the master of hide and seek, I decided to ask Dan to help me find him. After another 15 seconds or so of searching I heard Dan exclaim "Boy! What are you doing there?", and then he proceeds to laugh quite loudly.

I hurriedly head back towards the living room where the noise was coming from, and this is what I saw.


Do you know where he is? Go ahead, refer back to the living room pic. I'll give you a minute.
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.
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Yep, that rascal crawled behind the ladder bookshelf and was quietly crouching behind it. Crouching, I say! He only stood up once Dan saw him. We thought this was so hilarious that, of course, we just had to take a picture.

When will I ever stop underestimating this kid?