The Inauguration

A couple of weeks ago, John had the opportunity to go to DC and meet with the transition team to talk about Green Jobs & social investing. He had a great trip, came back inspired & said, "You know, the people getting ready to run the place actually look like us!! They're our age!!"

I'd been getting more and more emotional about the whole thing & decided to look into tickets. John had a week-long trip to Michigan planned, so he couldn't join. We found a cheap ticket on Saturday & by Sunday I was on a plane to Washington with the baby. A day later, my friend Renee joined us.

Next, we had to figure out our social calendar. Renee had gotten VIP tickets to the Hip Hop Inaugural Ball for Monday night, so that was a must. On Tuesday morning we got up really early & caught a cab to the Metro. When we arrived to DC, it was a madhouse & we joined the masses headed towards the National Mall. It was cold, but not too bad. Once at the Mall, we made our way towards the Capitol building. We found a perfect spot in the middle of a group of mostly women in their 60s, 70s & 80s, and mostly from out-of-town. They had gotten there early so they could have access to the park benches to rest their knees/backs.

As a group of strangers who had all come to witness history in the making, we sang, laughed, cheered, listened & wept. It was an amazing time. I should have captured it in a group photo. Everyone loved James. A few sang to him & wished him well, saying he'd be in their prayers.

After the swearing-in, it was almost impossible to leave the Mall, so we headed to the African Art Museum to warm up.

That evening John's aunt and uncle watched James as Renee and I got dressed and headed into DC. Renee went to the Western Ball & I headed to the Google late night party. It was great to see friends, hear everyone's Inauguration story (Kippy & Jason Scott had the best one -- their 10-month-old ended up on the front page of the Inauguration Day New York Times being held by Obama. Google 'Jedi Scott' for details...) & celebrate our new president. I didn't get home until 3:30 a.m.

Thursday we had lunch with Dennis & Mari from Global Giving and then headed to Ashoka so James could meet my colleagues.

Friday morning we went to Robby's school to meet her students and that afternoon, we flew home. It was a whirlwind trip, but inspiring, amazing and wonderful. And James was a total dreamboat baby.