you were there.

Someday, I will tell my kids about this election. I will tell them: You were there when history was made.

I will tell Lo that I carried her on my hip to the polls in 2008 to cast my vote. The vote that helped elect our nation's 44th President of the United States. The first African American to hold office. We voted, then we went to a doughnut shop that was giving out free doughnuts to voters. Here's what little Lo looked like back then.

I will remind her that in 2012, she was in kindergarten and that she voted for Obama in her classroom election, which resulted in a tie. The first time she got to see what voting felt like. I will tell Bowie about how we sat with him in our living room as we filled out our ballots early and mailed them in.

 

I will tell them that they were there when our President visited Des Moines in September.
They stood here amongst this massive crowd on a sunny day in Iowa.

I will say: You heard his voice, you heard him speak. Your daddy took you to see him.

I will tell them that I saw our President give his last campaign speech ever, the night before the 2012 election.

I will tell them about how I put them to bed and then sped off to the East Village. About how I spent 30 minutes looking for a parking spot and then hooked up with friends who pushed me up to the very front of the massive crowd, just in time to see Bruce Springsteen.

The whole nation watched on television. Downtown, in our very own city. And I was there to see it.

I will say: You were there, and you sat on our laps and watched the election results come in. On our couch, in our living room. Until it was time for bed. I'll tell them that Iowa was a major swing state, and our state came through.

I will tell them: We did this for you, for your future. You may remember it; you may not. But you were there. And we did it.

**Regardless of your political views or mine, I figured I needed to record this for posterity. I'm a sucker for memories and stories and such. I am the keeper of the stickers and posters and ticket stubs. This election presented me with a series of events and photos and memories I wanted to pass on and share, no matter the outcome. This blog has become my space, my scrapbook. Our lives were touched by this campaign, and sometimes living in Iowa has its perks. I respect and love you for however you voted yesterday and however you feel about last night's results today. (The end!)