Sunday prior to Inauguration Day

Since the last post, we have taken the Metro to Kelvin's brother in Alexandria, VA, where we bought binoculars and a hood thing that will cover my face, and a second set of long johns for each of us. :)

We've returned to the Capitol Mall again, and Kel and Kelvin are currently at the Air and Space Museum for the 3rd time, while I'm holding down the fort at the hotel, the Washington Suites in Georgetown. Kel just texted me, saying he kicked terrorist butt in a flight simulator. Kel and Kelvin might walk by the big free concert at the Lincoln Memorial on their way back here. (They did, and saw Stevie Wonder and Barack on the big screens on the Mall. They walked all the way to the hotel).

Turns out that the Metro Stop we use, that is closest to our hotel, is the stop where everyone from further out is getting off the train to walk to the Lincoln Memorial for the concert. We have figured out how to walk to the Capitol for Swearing In, if the Metro is too full. It's less than 3 miles to walk to the Capitol. We plan to start over there about 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, though, so we might be able to take the Metro, even though we'll need to make a transfer. We've become old hands at using it, even Kel can explain which train to get on and where to get off. Kel will be with us for the Swearing In and the Midwestern Regional Ball Tuesday night. We hope he can hang. We hope WE can hang.

Oh, yeah, we got tickets to the Swearing In and the Midwestern Ball for Kelvin's 89 year-old father and Kelvin's siblings who will help him get around. Kelvin's dad was not like some elderly African-Americans who did not BELIEVE Barack could be elected (for good reasons rooted in experience with American history)--Daddy was right there with Barack, from the beginning. This is just an incredible dream come true for all of us, but we are especially thrilled that Daddy can witness it...he was a sharecropper in Mississippi before moving to Missouri in the 1940s and eventually owning his own land. He was a plaintiff in the Black Farmer's lawsuit about racial discrimination in the 1990's (that's right, within the last 10-15 years), and just received the settlement within the last year or two. He (and his late wife, Willie) raised 10 kids who are successful professional people, through Hal and Willie' own will, determination, discipline, and faith in God, despite the obstacles they faced in the Bootheel of Missouri. Kelvin and his siblings were raised on a farm south of where the self-appointed leader of the Obama volunteers in Cape Girardeau, who was trying to become an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention, resigned from the Democratic party before the election because he decided he could not support Obama out of his "concerns" that electing Obama as President would lead to a race war.

Okay, back on task--We have managed to get Purple tickets, so are giving our Silver tickets to our Neighborhood Team Leaders from K.C. I've also been making arrangements for people to get ball tickets and so forth, to the best of our ability. I'm here at the hotel coordinating that. :)

We went to Alvin Brooks' daughter's company black tie party last night. They had an incredible band. It was great fun with great people, at the fabulous Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor, MD.

We are eager to see how the Swearing In compares to the (thus far) most incredible experiences of our lives--Iowa Caucus night in Des Moines January 3, 2008, being delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and Sarah being Staging Location Director and Kelvin being a Canvass Captain for Obama Kansas City HQ, for Get Out The Vote and Election Day. It's hard to imagine it can get any better, but who knows. It might. :)