Inauguration: Barack Obama

It was the most remarkable thing I ever witness…

A very cold morning, the journey began at 5am in the morning; I dressed in several layers, two scarves, three socks, long johns, leggings, a cap an extra pullover jacket and a walking coat then headed to the metro station. Once there, we scurried underground into the train station and waited patiently in line to purchase a facecard and was greeted by a pleasant attendant of the Metro Station who willingly placed enough money on our cards for a round trip.

Then we proceeded through the terminal and waited for the train, caught the second train and was able to snag a seat amidst the crowds. While, riding my Aunt and I tried to determine which stop was suitable and I asked this charming gentleman if he was familiar with DC and if he could suggest the most practical stop. He obliged. He recommended a stop and we continued to converse.

A quarter of an hour later, we arrived at the L’Enfant Plaza station and departed into a sea of people. The crowd on the terminal was massive and we proceeded in the direction of the people because we had no other choice. Snuggled close together we made penguin steps towards the gates in between long tirelessly waits as the attendant voice rung out over the loud speaker "be patient; the gates will continue to open and close in order to manage the crowd." An hour later, and after young children complained, whined, cried and one little boy told his mother he “rather be in school” we made our way through the single isle gates to a disabled escalator. As we trotted up the escalator another attendant encouraged us by saying "you can do it" and the crowd chanted Obama’s slogan "Yes We Can!" There were three escalators ascending up and out of the terminal and we were on the middle escalator. On the right, an elderly woman had hutched over apparently exhausted and out of breath and as we continued up the stairs a gurney was being passed down. On the top of the platform was an overweight lady seated to my left hyperventilating. I whispered a silent prayer for their safety and kept moving.

We landed on the streets along with a couple other hundred people who departed the station with us and immediately blended in with the many others. I gave off a big sigh of relief because to be stuck inside the underground train station for nearly an hour with feet warmers isn’t exactly pleasant. It felt like I was standing on coals.

The gentleman on the train ride took the initiative and led us towards the Capitol. He walked briskly through the swarm as I followed snapped pictures and looked on in amazement at the number of people gathered for the same cause. We made our way to the Washington Mall and approached a black link chain were a National Security Guard lifted it; we knelt down to go under and rose into a field of people: women, men, boys and girls; black, white, yellow and red; tall, short, thin and round we were surrounded, encompassed by people! No matter which direction you turned there were people.

Scott, our private escort funneled us through the audience and we landed parallel to the Washington Monument. We took a spot near a mother and her children, a young girl about 6 years old who was seemingly miserable and a teenage boy who was inattentive to the crowd around him busily trying to stay warm. They sat in folding chairs with a bright orange yellowish blanket draped over their legs. My Aunt was so disturbed by the little girl’s shivers and running nose that she was impelled to remove her hand warmers and give them to the child – her motherly instinct. The little girl’s mom respectfully declined her offer.

And then we waited. It was close to 10 am and we had to wait for an hour and a half before the swearing in ceremony began. This hour in a half was extremely long. I stood there marching in place, doing leg and back stretches. I was restless so I sat on the ground for a moment. Scott shook his head disapproving but I did not care; I needed to rest my legs. After a short while, I was back on my feet again; still waiting, sniffling because my nose was running, and i was hungry – we skipped breakfast and there wasn’t a vendor in sight. I heard someone screaming ‘peanut’ and mistook it for someone selling peanuts. I got excited as I looked to see which way it was coming from but it was just a nickname for a person they were calling. My Aunt thought this was very funny – I swore I was delusional.

Finally, Aretha Franklin graced the stage and sang the patriotic tune of My Country Tis’ of Thee followed by a pre-recorded song by a group named Yo Yo Ma. Then a series of people were ushered in as I stood on my tip-toes to catch a glance at the screen. I saw Beyonce and Jay Z between the snow caps and large jackets that hinder my view from my 5 foot stance. I also saw P Diddy. Next came the political heads: the Senate then the House of Representative followed by the former living presidents in chronological term order – Carter, Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush all escorted by there respective wives. Upon first sight of George W. Bush a woman to my left began singing ‘Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey Goodbye’ and before you knew it the entire crowd was singing along – I did not participate I thought it was bit disrespectful. I got a shot of my very own, the governor of Florida – Charlie Christ. Then the cutesiest two little girls ever, decked out in their J Crew winter apparel followed by their mother, first lady Michelle Obama dressed up in a spring green assemble.

First came the swearing in of Joe Bidden – short and sweet. Subsequently, the memorable swearing in of Barack Obama, which officially declared him the 44th President of United States of America. The crowd roared and celebrated as strangers hugged and gave each other high fives!

Shortly after, Rick Warren said a magnificent prayer which concluded with the Lord’s Prayer and the crowd recited it together. It was very encouraging and significant but short lived because after Amen we stood there for a brief moment to take it all in and began to retrack our earlier steps. With Scott back on the job we headed toward the L’Enfant station. My senses got the best of me because with all the road closures and detours we landed on the road to heaven. It was filled with the sweet scent of food vendors selling gourmet, all premium beef hot dogs, pretzels and other snacks. Okay, it was not gourmet but for me who had not eaten all day this was fine dining. I found the vendor with the shortest line and within minutes I had order a hotdog, a sausage on a bun and a Gatorade. Around the corner from the vendors was the train station, when we arrived the line was beyond expected -- jam-packed. It must have been 25 people wide by 200 people deep. To cold to stand in line to wait we ended up inside the L’Enfant Hotel. This was short of a miracle because at this point I was experiencing hypothermia – maybe I am exaggerating a little but we had weathered 5 hours of 30 degree temperatures and I could not feel my pinky fingers. So we walked around the hotel and sat for a little while. I waited in the long line for the restroom and Scott used his iPhone to calculate the next closest Metro station.

This turned out to be the 5th or maybe even the sixth closest station. Each Metro station we passed, the line seemed to be getting longer and I was becomeing frustrated, tired and skeptical of our ‘tour guide’. We walked for nearly 5 miles and all the train stations had lines for blocks. My Aunt and I dragged along barley moving and slowing Scott and his girls down – the dead weight. My left knee was aching something awful and I had to walk with a slight limp. We ended up at Potomac Ave station but before we gave into this line we grabbed snacks at an Organic Food Store and I went to CVS for a snickers bar. At CVS, I saw two associates from back home trying to warm up too before braving the metro line.

But Scott was right, his strategy worked out well. We waited in line all of ten minutes and got five seats to accommodate each of us: Scott, his two twin’s daughters Ashley and Ann (very kind 16 year olds) and my Aunt and I. We arrived back at West Falls Church with historical memories and this story to share.