<a href="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/3213300392_bb2911064e.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-230" title="3213300392_bb2911064e" src="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/3213300392_bb2911064e.jpg" alt="" width="349" height="466" /></a>
<h5 style="padding-left: 210px;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/calculat0r/">calculat0r</a></h5>
I was really surprised to realize, at about 10 this morning, that I couldn't bear to be alone today.

I've written about being alone before. I'm an extrovert who has gotten pretty good at being alone these last several years. First I took the plunge into freelance writing, which meant working every day in isolation, away from the office interactions I was used to. Then I became a single mom, which translated to many evenings at home alone, after my girls were tucked in.

This morning, I was happy to send the girls off to school (for the first time since last Wednesday, I might add, to give you a sense of just <em>how</em> happy I was). After I kissed Jason goodbye, I was perfectly content to settle down at my computer in the sunny dining room, with the radio tuned to NPR so I could follow the inauguration happenings while I worked.

At about 8:30, I Tweeted this (<a href="http://twitter.com/">what's a tweet</a>, you ask?):
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span class="entry-content">feeling SO good. the girls are in school for the 1st time since last Wed., the sun is shining, and what's-his-name is on his way out.</span></em></p>
Not surprisingly, it's right when you think you have something <em>down</em> that you're thrown off. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't want—no, wouldn't be <em>able</em>—to experience the inauguration festivities alone.
<h4>Panic creeps in</h4>
As I listened to the reporters do their play-by-play I got restless. And fidgety. To be honest, I almost panicked, as I realized that I. Could. Not. Witness. This. Historic. Moment. Alone. Period.

Especially without a TV (I'll explain that some other time).

At approximately 10:30 CST, I Tweeted this:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span class="entry-content">I feel so excited and antsy and far too alone. this is when working at home sucks. have to go find someplace with people. and a TV. </span></em></p>
<span class="entry-content">And then, a few minutes later, this:</span><em><span class="entry-content"> </span></em>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span class="entry-content">OK. can't be alone any more. J just called--I'm getting in the car now to meet him so we can experience this together.</span></em></p>
As I raced across town (where I live, "across town" translates to about an eight-minute drive) I listened to Rick Warren's invocation in the car. He was reciting the Lord's Prayer as I tried to refrain from muttering obscenities under my breath about the driver in front of me.

As I parked, I heard Joe Biden being sworn in. I walked into our friend's living room, where Jason was waiting, just in time to hear Aretha Franklin sing America the Beautiful, as only she could, wearing a hat only she could pull off.

I sat next to Jason and gripped his hand as we listened to Obama take his oath and give his speech.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><span class="entry-content">finally with people and a TV, feeling overwhelmingly full, tingly, awe-struck. it's done. unbelievable. no words.</span></em></p>
<span class="entry-content">Well, no words except these, that suddenly crossed my mind as Bush and Cheney left the scene: </span>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="entry-content"><em>that big wind you just felt? that was the world exhaling.</em></span></p>

<h4>The collective exhale</h4>
There were so many reasons, in that moment, to exhale. Not just to exhale, but to exhale together, in unison. As Obama said in his inaugural speech:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.</em></p>
<em>We gather.</em> Yes. The first, most important thing we must do, starting today, is gather together, or as Rev. Joseph Lowery said in his benediction, <em><span class="entry-content">to turn </span></em><span class="entry-content">to</span><em><span class="entry-content"> each other, not on each other. </span></em><span class="entry-content">Amen. So let it be.
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<h5>For more posts about the election of Barack Obama, see:</h5>
<h5><a href="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=133">Old baggage and new beginnings on election eve</a></h5>
<h5><a href="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=135">What will our kids remember about election day?</a></h5>