New hope

On Tuesday night we kept the kids up to watch Obama and McCain -- both beautiful and graceful speeches in victory and defeat. We tried to convey how you can disagree with people and still not believe them evil. How in this country, the campaign might be a fierce fight but when it is all done we hope and try to reconcile in the end. We try to be one America.

We tried to convey the moment -- how incredible it was to see an African-American elected president for the first time in our country's history. We tried to convey that it was more than that. That we felt that hope had won (I can't believe I'm quoting Oprah. Someone send help.). We talked about how if we lived in or near Chicago we would have bundled up the kids and dragged them out there.

But our history was on the couch -- Mom's and Dad's hands meeting as we wrapped our arms around two little boys and prayed that it would be different.