"...Because they believed that this time, it would be different..."

My god.

Barack Obama's acceptance speech is still weaving through my mind. That was one of the most powerful, on point, emotional speeches I have heard in a long time. That speech warmed me and assured me that I was not wrong about him - about my vote, about my hope in what he can start to do.

I've walked around quietly this morning, still taking in what happened last night.

What we did last night. What Barack did.

For as long as I can remember, I've had a constant, low grade fear that I would never see this day, but I never let it leave my lips because I didn't want to put that energy out there. I thought hope was more important.

I'm so glad I held on more strongly to hope than to despair.

What a sweeping change! This is a mandate - no more can anyone say that we, the people, are alright with business as usual.

I was alone in my house listening to all the analysis, commentators and pundits throughout the day. Was glued to the radio when the numbers started coming in. And I ran out of my house when CNN called the presidency for Obama - I had to be with people, to celebrate the moment - to listen to his acceptance speech with others.

I spent that moment at Hot Java cafe here in Long Beach - what a fantastic moment. There were tears, some were mine. Happy, because this marks a time in our history when we begin to change the face of this country - the change we always wanted. I can't speak for others (though others spoke loud and clear last night), but it's the change I've waited for. The day we elect a black to the Whitehouse.

How powerful the moment when Barack talked about the 106 year old black woman who cast her vote - recalling all the changes she has seen in her lifetime - the racism she lived through, the oppression - as a woman, and as a black in our - and to have lived long enough to cast her vote for a black man.

This is the country I love - the country with tolerance, a bigger heart and vision than we sometimes forget we're capable of.

There is much work to do, much to still change. I wait now for the results of the Prop 8 initiative - this conservative led anachronous punt for bigotry and hate - and hope California does the right thing. I was naive to think the California Supreme Court decision was enough to have put the issue to bed. The numbers are still coming in. It's not looking good, but I'm holding on to hope.

But for now, I am more ready for the day, - and I know now it can happen in my lifetime, that we elect a woman to the presidency.

The speech reached out to everyone and essentially laid out his plan for his term - and I am so excited for all its possibilities.

This is the moment, our moment - the moment this country began to change.