obama's story really hit home with me last night especially. my younger cousin is about the same age i was during the 2000 election and has been keeping up with this election. i love him to death and he calls me 'his' "ava lou". we're close with our family, so i see him often.

he's also biracial and is being raised by his single white mother. sound familiar? he gets picked on at school because of his being biracial.. not just by white kids but black kids too. the past year or two he has started to realize it, since he's started to have friends(in the south, especially white kids) who treat him differently, or little "girlfriends" that suddenly wouldn't talk to him anymore because of something their parents said. he's in a very small alabama town, and he hasn't had it easy as a kid. his mom hasn't had it easy either. she loves him to death, and it hurts her to see how some people look at him.

last night she cried, my mom cried, i cried.. zach slept since it was past his bedtime, lol.. but he was so excited about this election. i think he sees part of himself in obama and obama's story.

today really does mark the beginning of a new america, where the american promise isn't a false promise. anyone, with hard work and determination can become the leader of this now greater nation. in the past, desegregation has happened by force.. by supreme court rulings and national guard members having to escort a black student to class on a university campus. last night though, the people made it clear that we as a nation no longer are that same country that had to be forced into racial tolerance. we a new country... we are a better country.

YES WE DID!