We’re finally passing on the torch to someone who is ready to take on the mess. Who, if nothing else, is not George W. Bush.  We’re living through an incredible moment right now – where so many people have placed so much hope in one person.  And not just here in the United States.  But all over the world.

The fact that Chloe and Sophie are children during this incredible time is not without a tinge of irony.  I remember that when the planes hit the World Trade Center in 2001, one of the first thoughts I had was for Chloe.  She was not yet 8 months old and I despaired.  What kind of world have we brought her into?  What have we done?  It was terribly sad to me at the time.  This fear that 9/11 marked the separation between the way things used to be and the way things were going to be from then on.  After that horrible day, the world would never be the same.  And indeed, it has changed tremendously since then.  And not particularly for the good.

Flash forward four years, to September 2005.  After initially feeling ambivalent about having another child, what brought me comfort and happiness was knowing that in this scary new world, at the very least the girls would always have each other.

Flash forward another three years.  We elect and inaugurate the first black President.  And he represents the antithesis of the last 8 eight years.  And it’s wonderful and amazing.  And people of all ages, including Sophie (who thinks Obama has a “cool” name) are hopeful again.