A moment in history

James and I don't have a television or the internet in our home (our way of remaining sane and focused), so last night we ventured out to Parasol's, a neighborhood bar/restaurant, to watch the election unfold. While there, the people sitting next to us struck up a conversation. They were a couple from across the river in Gretna who decided to come to Parasol's because this was the stomping grounds of the gentleman's grandfather. This was his grandparents and parents neighborhood growing up - the family lived in close proximity to one another - all within a few blocks of the place we were sitting. His family moved across the river when he was a teenager, but he returned often to pay tribute to his grandfather. As he was talking, he suddenly pointed to the wall just behind me and said "Do you see that box over there?" We looked over to see an opening covered with particle board just behind the standing cooler/refrigerator, which now holds canned and bottled beverages. "Blacks used to have to order through that window. Even though the door was open - they couldn't come inside - they had to stand in line out there. My granddad used to tell me about that."

Half an hour later - James and I watched as Barack Obama won the electoral votes of our country and was announced the 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. We traversed three generations of a family's and a nation's history in just a few minutes and we watched as the world celebrated a victory that cannot be described with words.