Monday, 02 February 2009 00:00 Written by Faith

Inauguration Photo Gallery.  The day starts before dawn.  We wake up just after four in the morning and the layering process begins.  We have been in DC for a couple of days and it is really cold.  I put on long underwear, two pairs of pants, wool socks, four shirts, a fleece, a coat, a scarf and gloves.  I think I'm ready.  We head out at 4:45am and make our way to the metro stop.  We are lucky as we are one of the last cars allowed to park in the parking lot.  We get in the metro line which takes just over an hour but is the most well organized line I have ever been in.  We get into the metro and the second part of our journey begins.

As we make our way to DC there are announcements every five minutes of what metro stops are open and what metro stops are closed. The stops keep closing because there are too many people on the platforms and people cannot fit off the train. We get off the train one stop early and squeeze onto the platform.  We slowly make our way out and people are breaking into spontaneous cheers and songs celebrating the day. As we come out of the metro stop surrounded by 100's of people and as we emerge and look around we see 1000's of people all headed towards the mall.  We are two hours into our journey now.

The sun is coming up and you can feel the excitement in the air, everyone has there Obama gear on, you can hear cheers from near and far across the mall, it is amazing to see so many people just plain happy.  We are lucky enough to have silver tickets. We walk down the hill to the silver ticket area and we enter under a large banner in a line the width of a street.  Little did we know we would spend the next three and a half hours in this line to go an entire two blocks.

While in line we meet retired women from New Hampshire, a young couple from LA, and students from Ohio.  Everyone is excited and thrilled. But soon we realize we are only moving about a foot every fifteen minutes if we are lucky.  The crowd is crushing, we don't know what is going on and at five feet tall I can't see anything.  Even my husband is 6’1" and can't see anything.  We don't know what is going on or where we are headed. For the most part we are all in a good mood but the closer it gets to the time thing are about to start the more impatient people get and the more they keep trying to press to the front.  At 10:00 am the music starts and we have no idea if we will make it in. By now I could also use a restroom but there is no way to find one, no way to get out of line, no way to move anywhere.  Finally at 10:30 we realize what has happened.  A line the width of the street must funnel into an area that is about four people wide.  People without tickets have gotten in line and are stopped near the front blocking the access. Before they can move out police must remove barricades, it is quite the process.

We finally make our way through, there are easily 50 security stations we breeze through in under two minutes and we make in!  It is 10:45am, six hours after we left the hotel.  The sun is out; people are excited and relieved to have made it through security.  Unfortunately, the story wasn't as happy for everyone. Several of our friends with tickets never made it in and were standing in line until after the inauguration was done.

We finally settle on a place about three people back from the congressional reflecting pond. We have a clear view of what is going on, although still far enough back we need to rely on the jumbotron.  The screen is showing all the dignitaries arriving.  We cheer for Carter, the Clintons, Pelosi and many more. When they show Bush on the screen some boo but some stay quiet thinking it is not the time.  As the screen shows Obama walking out you hear cheering echo throughout the mall, it is weird to hear the person next to you screaming at the same time you can tell people a mile a way from you are shouting as well.  Then the screen shows the aerial view of people from the capitol all the way past The Washington monument all the way to the Lincoln memorial. The enormity of the event hits me and it takes my breath away.

Finally, the ceremony begins with invocation from Pastor Warren.  I'm interested to see how the crowd reacts.  I personally am disappointed in the choice and do not think it was a uniting choice however there is only one lone voice yelling that we do now want the pastor here.  Next comes Sen. Dianne Feinstein talking about what a historic day we are experiencing and that we should all look forward to the change we will surely see.  She does a great job.  Now we get to see Biden sworn in on a very large bible, going back and watching the television coverage even Biden said, "That is a very large bible." The crowd claps and cheers.

Finally, it is time to watch Obama get sworn in.  It is a surprisingly short ceremony that almost seems to juxtapose the anticipation that everyone feels.  As Obama gets sworn in the crowd erupts, 2 million people across the mall show emotion all at the same time.   Some people are crying, some people are dancing, others are shouting, clapping, some people have to sit on the ground they are so overwhelmed.  I'm jumping up and down it is amazing.

Obama delivers his twenty minute speech.  In that speech you feel his called to service, you feel responsibility, you feel excited, and you feel like that even though we are facing the biggest problems of our life time that we will be able to re-shape America. The feeling I most feel though is relief, relief that we have a President I believe in.  His speech is amazing. As an organizer it is incredibly refreshing to hear a president use the language of a community organizer, to outline the problem, share the solution and call to action.

After the speech everyone begins to disperse.  The poet and closing prayer continue on without the crowd paying much attention.  But when the national anthem is sang most people stop and sing the anthem together.  As we make our way out through the crowds we are tired, cold, exhausted and elated.