a promise kept

note: started this entry on november 5, dilly-dallied and published on november 9.
what can i say? the title of my blog kinda covers it..... : )



i've traveled south on hwy 41 thousands of times.


and every time i've passed a certain spot, a cemetery on a hill alongside the highway, i've told myself, "i am going to stop there sometime, sit on the steps built into the hillside, sip a cup of coffee in the company of the dead and watch the living go about their north or southbound business. but not today, because i am in a hurry to get to ___________(fill in the blank)."


yesterday november 5th i was at a meeting in green bay and tuned in to npr for some company on the drive north to home.


i listened to post-election interviews with common people, people like me, some of them moved to tears, speaking with trembling voices about newly reborn feelings of hope for our country.



suddenly the massive historical significance of the election, in my lifetime, of an african american to the highest office in our land came over me in the form of a huge emotional wave. and i knew it was finally the day to pull off the hamster wheel of the highway and sit on those steps.



so i did. the stone steps were old and crumbling. i sat there thinking about all those whose final climb up those steps took the help of 6 strong men. what would they think of the history being made today?

the boughs of an ancient oak spread out above and behind me, leaves dried out but still holding on, the wind making them rustle with dry papery voices--i imagined the sound to be post-election commentary from the cemetery constituency all around me. and that made me laugh out loud. imagine! something so remarkable that even the dead are excited about it!