History

On the day of Sen. Barack Obama's historic speech accepting the nomination for President of the United States, Madeleine wouldn't go to sleep. I just didn't get it. I wanted to watch the speech, as I intended to do with all the big convention speeches for the Dems and Republicans, and it wasn't exactly convenient that I was about to be holding a super squealy six-month-old (who has just found the volume control on her voice box) for an hour while trying to hear the words of the first African-American accepting his party's nomination for America's top spot.

Then I thought, why not let her be a part of this important moment in history? So I got out the camera and started snapping, and we took it all in together. In retrospect, I'm so glad she stayed up so I was able to document it. Years from now when we are sitting around the dining room table talking about world affairs, I'll tell her about Sen. Obama's historic run for the presidency the year she was born. And I'll tell her it was the same year that the first woman, Sen. Hillary Clinton, almost got that nomination. And I'll add that it was the first time the Republicans nominated a woman, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for their vice-presidential spot. Wow!

This is certainly an election year to behold, one that shows so much promise for the future. Having such a momentous speech interrupted by a few dozen baby squeals made it all the more meaningful.