Here in Oregon, with its vote by mail, the atmosphere for voting is a little different. You are in your home, generally alone and it isn't necessarily a shared experience. My daughter and I had planned to have a girls shopping day, because I desperately needed some cold weather clothes. She came over early so that we could fill out our ballots, because she had some questions about several of the initiatives. We silently went through the office elections, knowing that each of us was probably voting for whomever had a (D) after their name. I marked off Obama, Merkley and on down through the list.

We got to the initiatives, and as we went through those, she asked any questions she had, asked for some explanations and I did my best to make sure I was a neutral as I could be. Those she wasn't sure about, she asked my opinion and I told her how I was voting and my reasons. We had a discussion about mandatory minimum sentences, the need for building permits on smaller remodel projects, the importance, merit pay, and a levy for a local exhibition center. We viewed some things the same, others we voted differently, due to our differences in how we viewed some things. But we had a great discussion and spent time just talking about "things".

We had taken longer than expected, and headed out after sticking our postage on the envelopes. When we pulled into the parking lot at the store, it hit me! I had just voted for the first black nominee for President! I just looked at my daughter and said "Do you know how amazing this is? I just voted for the first black nominee for President!" I was stunned! I grew up in a family of the "Old South". I remember so many things that had brought me to tears when I was younger. The hatred I had seen, the inhumanity. And now, not only was a voting for someone who I think can be world-changing in his approach, but it has the added bonus of being a man who, 40 years ago, we could have never imagined would be in this position. I tried to express all of this to my daughter, in a way I didn't think she could understand.

Her response: "Mom, I can't really understand what you're feeling, but you need to understand how amazing I feel. This is my first national election, and I voted for a man who I KNOW can make changes. Who is smart, strong and seems to be a sincere honest and moral person. He is the kind of PERSON I would want to be, regardless of his skin color. You raised me in a way that I have never looked at a person's race to judge the kind of person they are, which made it so easy to vote for Obama. I never had to question that...I only needed to open my mind and heart and listen to his message and ideas."

So all in all, even though I don't have a polling place, and I don't have the comraderie of waiting for my opportunity to vote, I think that this was probably the most exceptional voting experience I have ever experienced.