My night at Grant Park with Barack Obama

My parents and I walk down the streets of Chicago. Destination Grant Park. Everywhere I turn there are people selling buttons, selling t-shirts, giving away smiles and hope. My heart is alive with pride for America. The city is alive. America is alive. There are people as far as the eye can see. The one thing - and for most probably the only thing – we have in common is our vote for Barack Obama. But that vote for him is so much more than one thing, obvious by the range of his supporters. The college sorority girl, the old white man with a cane, the suburbanite, the young boy from the ghetto of Woodlawn, the Chicago native making her life in Wyoming, the CEO, the McDonald's cashier, and the list goes on. He represents so many different ideals for America, so many truths and dreams.

I have a special ticket to the event. I am one of the 16,000 people that were a part of the “inner circle”. My dad had been a part of a finance committee of the campaign and for that reason, we (my parents Pat and Mariterese, my sister Elizabeth, her friend Jon and my cousin Alda), had a unique ticket. The gates open at 7 and when we walk in, I see lights and that’s about it. Then my eyes adjust and I see more. I see the podium, surrounded by 27 American flags, (yes I counted and yes I was also wondering why 27). There are about 9 TV booths, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, etc, etc to the left of the podium. In those booths are the talking heads of each of these stations giving their take on the election and the rally. Directly in front of the podium stands a GINORMOUS tent. Lights, lights and more lights. All the TV cameras from all over the world are gathered to mark this historical event. This tent is Grant Park’s connection to the country. To the world. The world is watching. And I am lucky to get to see it firsthand.

It is 9:59:54 PM and Grant Park, hundreds of thousands of people, are counting down the seconds. Imagine a New Years Eve countdown but you are counting down to find out if you are going to live until the next year (thank you Alda for that description). I scream along with the crowd. Six, Five, my body is shaking. I fear the pending results of California and all those electoral votes might be too much for my 24 year old heart. Three, two, one. A flash across the screen: BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENT-ELECT, (a CNN prediction). My heart explodes from my chest. I jump higher than I have ever jumped before. The sound of hundreds of thousands of people is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. My parents embrace next to me, both crying into each other. Elizabeth, Alda and I scream and jump in joy.

On my right are my new-found friends, Toya and May. I hug them as they cry on my Obama t-shirt. I look at them “Can you believe it?” They cry back “No!” as tears stream down their faces. May had told me about her life growing up as a black woman in New Orleans. She is 61. She has seen a lot to say the least.

A white-haired cameraman snaps his camera documenting the celebration. He stops. He reaches over the side of the fence, grabbing for May’s hand. He has tears in his eyes. “I just want to shake your hand. We look about the same age and I just want to say, we have come a long way.” The tears are now rolling down his cheeks. On May’s too. I touch my cheeks and they are damp.

Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” blasts my eardrums. We all start dancing and singing along. Out of the corner of my eye I spot the flags. Thousands of American flags. A man in a suite is handing them out. For the first time in probably 6 years I cannot get my hands on a flag soon enough. I am shouting, “I want a flag! I want a flag!” We start handing them off like batons. It is wonderful to proudly hold our flag again. I hug it.

Then the “YES WE DID!” exclamations begin, our flags beating in time with the words. Slowly, that chant begins to change to USA, USA! The chants that were reserved for the Olympics and Republicans are ours to enjoy again with pride.

The next minutes are somewhat of a blur. My cell phone is buzzing in my pocket. Friends from across the country are watching Grant Park celebrate on TV. I am their connection and I am honored. Because of this, I think every person in the US was connected that night. This was a group victory, so it is only fitting that it was a group celebration as well.

John McCain’s speech is gracious. People are respectful and listening but hooting and hollering as the anticipation of Barack’s arrival mounts. The music plays on. Finally, the moment we have been waiting for. The future first family of the United States of America. They all walk out holding hands. I am so proud. Proud to be here. Proud to be American. This man and his family have united us all. Not just in Grant Park, but around the world.

I am caught in the most surreal moment. I look behind me at the crowd. I see the Chicago skyline. I see the buildings, alight with red, white and blue. A skyscraper that reads USA. The flags wave across the crowd in excitement and joy. The crescent moon shines down on us.

Barack Obama, poised, calm and collected begins his speech. I love this man. I know it to be true. I thought it before but looking at him now, just yards away, he takes my breath away. (He is so close to me I could almost touch him and I can barely handle it.) He has brought our country together, evident by the thousands of people that have been standing for 5 hours just to live in this moment. (8 years and 5 hours). His speech is too much for me to recap, but I will say this. It is filled with honesty and truth. He declares that the road ahead is a bumpy one, but together, ALL of us, Democrats and Republicans, can be the change we wish to see. He promises to always be honest. Change is on its way. Yes we can, and yes we did.

As he walks away from the podium, he waves to crowd, he looks down at my section. I lock eyes with him. Barack Obama and I are having a moment. I am jumping up and down, I am smiling, I am waving my little flag with all the energy I have left. I am acting like a crazy person and Barack Obama is watching. I swear on everything holy, he starts to laugh. I made Barack Obama laugh! I will never forget this moment. His beautiful family joins him on the stage along with Joe Biden and his crew. They wave, we clap. They smile and we shout. After about 10 minutes of this, Obama turns around and he says, “alright”. He places his hands on his youngest daughter’s shoulders and says, “let’s go, let’s get you to bed.”


-Natalie Balthrop