Hope (a week later)

What an exciting time to be a History teacher (or as my girls like to say "Herstory")!!! The events of the last week will NEVER be forgotten, it's like Pearl Harbor, the first time on the moon, the assassination of JFK, or 911...you will always remember what you were doing when OBAMA became president. I had my students write about it so that they could document history in the making. They did so using my favorite political cartoonist, Lalo Alcaraz's most recent cartoon. They loved it!

On election night I was working the polls against Prop. 8. I stood out in the cold for 3.5 hours passing out pamphlets and encouraging people to vote NO. My phone ended up dying during the process so I wasn't receiving any updates. As soon as the polls closed I got into my car and turned on the radio (and the heater)...I had to pull the car over because as soon as I heard that Obama won I started sobbing uncontrollably. I immediately called my mom and she answered the phone screaming, "We did it! We did it!" It was such an emotional night. I drove over to Clara's and celebrated with her, the baby and Christina. It was there that we found out that Prop 8 was winning...my joy turned to sadness.
The next day was bittersweet. I was SO excited about Obama, but also really upset about Prop 8. How could we have made such a huge step forward and taken like 10 steps back?! I thought about the three happy couples that I witnessed get married over the last month and wondered how they felt. I also thought about gay couples who were looking forward to getting married. I was glad to see that people weren't going to give up that easily and was proud to see so many people on the streets protesting. I know that we will prevail, it's just going to take a little longer.

In the meantime I will be happy about Obama and HOPE that things will change. Si Se Pudo!!!