Story from New Mexico

My good friend Darby, (this is from my daughter, Jennifer's friend) who lives in Albuquerque, had this to contribute:

I have been eligible to vote in three presidential elections now. Election day in our household is a holiday with roughly the same importance as Thanksgiving. My husband and I get up in the morning and go vote, holding hands as we walk to our precincts voting booth. We then vote, beaming like idiots, and walk home, hand in hand. The work day is truly a challenge, how can you pay attention to returning phone calls and pleasing the public when something so important is going on? When we are finally free we race home to turn on the TV and settle in to the couch for the returns. At ten or so we move the TV into the bedroom and stay up all night waiting for the results. Last Tuesday we planned a sleepover party with some friends and were very excited.

This year we were able to vote early, and did so, along with about half the registered voters in our new home, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most people we knew were volunteers for the Obama campaign, so everyone was invested and enthusiastic. Our little sleepover turned into a party quickly. My husband, John, made a huge vat of chili, David brought the salad, Amanda and Mike brought bread, several people brought wine and we watched TV as we waited for all the friends who working the polls. They finally arrived. Jessie and Sophia came in with dog, sleeping bags, air mattress and lots of sugary pop. Becky came in last, famished and exhausted. We all gathered in the living room, ready for a long night. In just an hour it was over. No one could believe it. We screamed, cheered, hooted and cried. People ran out into the streets all over the city to celebrate in the cold. No one could contain themselves. It was heartening and exciting to see my new, very diverse city come together with so much joy.

The next day we paid special attention to the news and kept reassuring ourselves that it really happened. Indiana! who could believe that the birthplace of the KKK would go Democratic? And yet, this new dawn did not bring entirely good news. We were saddened and angered to watch as proposition 8 in California (and similar legislation elsewhere) was used to change the state constitution to exclude gays and lesbians from the ability to marry. So we have a long way to go. But really have come very far. It gets better all the time, and for the first time in years I am proud, and not embarrassed, to be an American. Maybe Michelle Obama gets in trouble when she says it, but I think it needs to be said.