November 4, 2008
Dear David and Trinity,
A few minutes ago, while you both slept in your beds upstairs, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America. It's difficult to express how monumental this moment is for so many people in this country. It may not turn out to be the case that he is a great president (we sure hope he is, though), but what he represents is surely great. We weren't sure that we'd ever see the day that an African-American would be elected to the highest office in the nation. And, yet, here we are on the other side of history.
We live in troubled times. The world economy is in crisis. We are engaged in not one but two wars in the Middle East. The nation seems more divided than ever over central social and cultural issues: the rights of gay citizens to marry, the environment, health care, etc. And yet, despite this -- perhaps because of this -- we have broken down one of the longest-standing barriers in our country's history. The long struggle for civil rights is still ongoing in many ways. But tonight things just got a little bit better.
You were each born into this world with some cards stacked against you, simply for the color of your skin. But you are the brightest lights in each of our days: beautiful, smart, hilariously funny, kind, and unconditionally loving. Though you can't now know the significance of this night, you are sure to feel it in the very fabric of your lives. Forty years ago, a man had a dream that people would be "judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Tonight that dream came true. The world finally belongs to you, too, and there is nothing you cannot do. Yes, you can.
And so we say this to you: take your lives seriously, live intentionally, love fully, and believe that you can take the world you've inherited and make it a better place.
We're going to bed now. It's late. We'll go upstairs and listen to you breathe the way only the innocent can breathe. We go to sleep tonight knowing that the world has changed for the better (if only just a little) and that this place is a little more hopeful, a little less divided, and whole lot more open to all the possibilities your lives now hold.
Good night, sweet and gentle friends. We love you more than these words can say.
Mom and Dad
