Poised on the threshold.....

.....of a triumphant moment in the history of our country. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I remember.....

....I remember being a teenager growing up in Dallas, TX & riding the bus to the downtown library when blacks sat in the rear of the bus. I remember that blacks could not use the same restrooms or water fountains as myself. I remember the Civil Rights movement....I remember wondering WHY some other whites viewed blacks as less of a person than themselves....I remember Oletha and Dessa; two black women who taught me alot about love at a formative stage of my life.....black or white made no difference to them & this young white girl was embraced by both of them as one who needed a little wind beneath her wings. And my love for them knew no bounds of black or white.....

And how I remember Martin Luther King......who put into words the feelings of so many by his moving speech "I Have a Dream". His dream.......and his vision became my own though the pain of his death and the loss of his leadership doubled by the loss of JFK in my own city sent me reeling into unknown depths of despair for the future of our country.

But now.....we're just one day away from the swearing in of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States. This (much older) white woman is moved to tears as I realize the triumph which is occuring.....that, as King stated so many years ago.....a man has been judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin ....his strength, his character & intelligence, competence and unwavering committment to the American people has earned him the highest honor in our land....a day of triumph for us ALL and one where HOPE reigns supreme.....