We're not supposed to be happy right now, to feel optimistic in the face of war and economic hardship, with our neighbors losing their jobs and their homes, with all of us struggling in our own ways.
And yet, we so wanted to celebrate this day, as if to push the pause button on a very bad reality show to tune in to something good.
Something unforgettable, really.
More than a million congregated in Washington to do just that. But millions more saw it on small screens, miles and miles removed from the multitudes on the mall. We gathered electronically, and watched the pomp and circumstance that is Inauguration Day, and found hope from afar.
If a rap star-turned-fashion mogul can offer inspiration, "Diddy" did indeed.
"It feels honest," Sean Combs told Larry King on inauguration eve, hours before Barack Obama took the presidential oath. "The way he connects with us ... he feels like the truth."
On television, the day felt real. It felt honest, it felt like "the truth," because the man and the moment transcended politics.
We saw it in the faces of the civil rights trailblazers and ordinary black Americans who came to witness something so many thought they'd never see. We saw it in their tears and joyful smiles. We didn't have to live through that struggle to feel the power of that truth.
"This'll bring us together," said one woman in one of many television interviews that echoed that same sentiment.
As soon as the oath was administered, a black man turned to clap a white man on the shoulder. And then they fell into a hug.
Whether it endures or fades after the day is done, that bond of togetherness — cohesion — pervaded. It wasn't just black, white, young, old — American — in Washington, D.C., taking in the moment. They came from Kenya, the Bahamas, Canada and other lands to join in this very American experience.
In that, there was a sense of relief and anticipation, of going from stodgy and stern to ... cool. Forget the stuffy traditions and ceremony. This was pure pep rally with chants of "O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!", a political custom that took on a festival feel, the Woodstock of inaugurations, complete with jumbotrons, impromptu songs and dancing in the streets.
