Four Years Ago

Four years ago I took the day off work to watch history unfold.  The man taking the oath of office was something our lauded founding fathers likely never imagined when they wrote and endorsed the words "all men are created equal".  There with one hand raised and the other on a bible, stood a man who was proof of that concept.   All men are created equal.

I didn't have to take the day off today.   Today, when that same man once again stood on the steps of the capital with his right hand raised to take the oath for a second term, I already had the day off.  Today was the official celebration of another man who place in history is equally as great.  Martin Luther King, jr.

King may have dreamed of that day four years ago.   I wonder if he thought that he would ever see that day.   He didn't.  But his son did.  And so did I.

I don't know if I'll live to see another black man elected to our highest office.  Or a Latino.  Or if I will live long enough to see a woman elected to the highest office in this land.

Dare I hope that we, as a nation, can evolve that far?

So I will sit on this day and ponder the possibilities as I sat on that day four years ago and hope that we can move on from our petty differences and see the dreams and hopes and potential we all share realized.

For all men and women.

For life.

For freedom.

For peace.

Yes, we can.