Mom tells the story of how she forced David, at four years old, to watch the J.F.K. funeral because it was a historical moment. There's a picture somewhere that I would have loved to include, but couldn't find, of Dave sitting on the couch as instructed and seemingly watching intently.
Knowing today to be a very historic day, I too "forced" my six year to watch the proceedings expecting intent focus and interest. We were able to get half way through the speech today when she suddenly said, "Can I go watch something else, I've heard him talk before".
I supposed my expectations were a little high for her but I wanted her to know and experience the significance of the moment. I wanted her to understand that now, more than ever before, her generation will be able to be more "color blind" than ever. That unlike my generation, she will see many color combinations in families and couples and never take a second look or think twice about whether it is unusual or odd. She can be more confident than ever that her family is acceptable, right, and divinely placed together. She knows more than ever now that no matter where you come from or the color of your skin, anything is possible. She did however announce that she could be President someday and I didn't have the heart or words to tell her that constitutionally that would be impossible. I'll leave it to some future history teacher to dash those dreams. Politics aside, it was a significant moment for all of us.
Dave says he doesn't remember watching the J.F.K. funeral and maybe MeiLing won't remember watching this particular inauguration, but we will preserve the memory as mom did over 40 years ago.
