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For the first time, I am immensely affected by the start of a new presidency. With great humility I watch a man who's inspired me to believe in what our united nation can achieve, that hope is not just a word, that our future begins with a great reckoning and confrontation of our past.
It has long been understood that my generation confronts a formidable task ahead, the net waste of excess and unbridled greed. With each passing election, promises faded and dreams died. Hope itself was dashed with each black headline. And in the midst of this fall our nation was assaulted by individuals with no respect for freedom but even less for the value of life itself. And our leader, our most powerful leader in the world, faced with an opportunity to impact our future, to make an indelible mark in history, well he choose poorly. Eight years of history funneled into the dark pages of American history, indelibly indeed.
As this transpired, my own life dropped into a chasm. Hope ceased. Through a catastrophic storm, I endured, with family, friends and a city of tortured souls, a group whose collective pain is measured in MREs and cancelled insurance riders. And still, while we struggled and we fought, that hope was but a glimmer, an oasis we could not reach. Facing another presidential election, who could guess a candidate would emerge that gave sudden pause to the dim future we expected. While promises are always still just promises, there came a moment of transition, wherein I made a leap of faith, putting my trust into an individual whose unlikely candidacy was sure to fail. How could a man who advocated that one thing we lacked, how could he ascend to the highest office in the land? But he did. And, yes, we did, too.
A cautious optimism cascaded down on election day, dare I say the seeds of a new hope. Today, watching Barack Obama take his oath of office brought a flood of emotions through this doubtful soul, spreading light to regions darkened for so long. Yes, there is the distinct possibility his promises will remain just that. But he's singing the song I've heard all along: our future must be built, not inherited. That to overcome, we must believe in the audacity of hope.
Hail to the new commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama. May today mark the next great age of change in our country, and with it the future, for us and the generations that preserve the United States of America.
It has long been understood that my generation confronts a formidable task ahead, the net waste of excess and unbridled greed. With each passing election, promises faded and dreams died. Hope itself was dashed with each black headline. And in the midst of this fall our nation was assaulted by individuals with no respect for freedom but even less for the value of life itself. And our leader, our most powerful leader in the world, faced with an opportunity to impact our future, to make an indelible mark in history, well he choose poorly. Eight years of history funneled into the dark pages of American history, indelibly indeed.
As this transpired, my own life dropped into a chasm. Hope ceased. Through a catastrophic storm, I endured, with family, friends and a city of tortured souls, a group whose collective pain is measured in MREs and cancelled insurance riders. And still, while we struggled and we fought, that hope was but a glimmer, an oasis we could not reach. Facing another presidential election, who could guess a candidate would emerge that gave sudden pause to the dim future we expected. While promises are always still just promises, there came a moment of transition, wherein I made a leap of faith, putting my trust into an individual whose unlikely candidacy was sure to fail. How could a man who advocated that one thing we lacked, how could he ascend to the highest office in the land? But he did. And, yes, we did, too.
A cautious optimism cascaded down on election day, dare I say the seeds of a new hope. Today, watching Barack Obama take his oath of office brought a flood of emotions through this doubtful soul, spreading light to regions darkened for so long. Yes, there is the distinct possibility his promises will remain just that. But he's singing the song I've heard all along: our future must be built, not inherited. That to overcome, we must believe in the audacity of hope.
Hail to the new commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama. May today mark the next great age of change in our country, and with it the future, for us and the generations that preserve the United States of America.
