Today marks a significant turning point in U.S. history. Years of scars begin to heal today as we look forward through the fog left by our past. Looking back, I hope we remember how grand this event was in our maturity as people, citizens, and a Nation.

As I sit here, I am caught thinking how I have never been so intent on following the leadership of our Nation. This campaign, I have found myself deeply rooted in emotion and pride. I know I cannot speak for every citizen, but I believe today is a major milestone in our rich history to which I am very proud to have been a part in deciding. Our 44th President has taken his oath of office. I am moved and hold tight to my beliefs that there is monumental change in our future. At times, life has been bleak and disappointing. Tomorrow there will not be immediate change. There will be no miracles overnight. Change will come in small incremental steps over the rest of our lives. But today marks the first step on a long journey of freedom where I feel extremely confident in the ability and desire of our Nation’s leadership to carry us honestly to a new day. Today is the day I will be able to look back and know, confidently, that I made one the best decisions in my capacity to help create a life and rebuild a country so that my two sons can discover, chase, and live out their dreams. I am grateful for this day of hope. All I have ever wanted as a parent was to know I was doing everything I could to create a better life for my family. To take them a step farther, to nurture them more, to give them the tools they need to believe. I feel like those who share these beliefs with me are now standing together in unison and thanking the Heavens for the privilege of Freedom. Hope itself is a miracle.

I have never been much of a fan of politics. I despise ‘The Man.’ Yet, with the need for hope, the need for something to grasp on to, I feel that I, as well as others, believe in the new direction and journey we are about to set forth on. Conservative or liberal, whether you believe in a Holy Spirit or magic crystals, whether you are confident in the future or are afraid of clowns, whether your play the slots or bet on the ponies, today is a day that no American can deny being epic in the fabric of our history. Collectively, we have grown and tomorrow will be a better day. Our Nation was founded on the anti-establishment beliefs that no one could control us, no one could tell us what to believe, we are all free to pursue our dreams no matter how childish, we are independent and we are strong, we are United, and we don’t want to drink your shitty tea. Today, we reunite with our youth as a nation and step back in to the treacherous path of prosperity and re-energize the imagination of millions. This fact has not fallen short on Son #1 either. He continually reminds us how the 44th President is ‘his guy.’ Today, he is telling everyone who our new President is. I am very proud of him. He is quite excited and even asked my wife why we did not go to the National Mall to participate in the Inauguration. In hind sight, I wish we could have been there.

Fortunately and unfortunately, he and Son #2 will never know a world of segregation and bigotry. It will only exist in history books. The new world will be his to sculpt his dreams and exercise his freedom, regardless of background, language, skin, hair color, or music preference. An unalienable right just as was decreed by our forefathers. The dreams of the Lincoln Memorial have reached the walls of the White House.

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So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)." – Barack Obama, January 20, 2009