Today I am more than proud to be an American. I have lived in Europe for ten years now. The damage former President Bush has done to America in foreign policy and beyond has been detrimental to its reputation overseas. I’ve seen enough raised eyebrows and tried to dodge too many questions that have made me uncomfortable for far too long about my country’s president. I have experienced many moments where I have been embarrassed for my country and have not known how to defend my government. When you live outside your country, people think you don’t care as much about what’s happening at home. For me, it has been the contrary. Yes, as the wife of an Italian diplomat, I have to represent Italy first. But I’m always, indirectly, also representing America. And I haven’t been proud of what has been going on at home over the past ten years. I have wanted change.
Today restores my faith in democracy, in government, in leadership, and in my country. I went to bed last night at 1am, having spent all day and night glued to the television networks. I had instructed my brother to call me from New York once it was clear there was a winner. At 5am, my phone rang and he shared the news with me. I burst into tears. I turned on the television and caught McCain’s gracious and elegant concession speech. A half hour later, Obama spoke. Tears streamed down my face as I listened to him and watched this incredibly poised, intelligent, articulate leader accept the heaviest work load of a lifetime. I was pining to see his toothy-grin. But it only popped up several times as it was clear he was already aware that his work had only just begun. He did not thrust his fist into the air like a triumphant frat boy. He accepted the duty as a serious world leader should — with gratitude and caution, with enthusiasm and seriousness, with grace and diplomacy. And, above all, with humility.
One of the most refreshing things I find about seeing him at the podium is his young face. Despite the graying hair that has formed around his temples in recent months, he has the fresh-skinned face of a Neutrogena ad. He clearly has an unstoppable but measured energy that has driven him over these past two years. Let’s hope this energy leads him to tackle the daunting task of disasters he will now have to start cleaning up.
On a day like today, I feel extremely homesick. If I were at home in New York, I’d spend the entire day on the streets, hearing the voice of the people, taking their photographs, capturing their soundbites. I’d plant myself at an American diner, on a swivel stool, and order some pancakes and bacon. I’d talk to everyone, eager to hear the opinions and reactions of waitresses, policemen, teachers, busdrivers, taxidrivers, doormen, teenagers, children, and grandparents.
I walked the streets of Brussels this morning and wanted to sing out to the world, as if I were starring in a Bollywood movie, that I was an American and that my country had showed the rest of the world the true definition of democracy. I didn’t find any takers on the street interested in starring in my musical video but I spent my entire month’s cellphone plan in the span of an hour receiving congratulatory text messages and phone calls from American, French and Italian friends. It felt great to have gained the respect of the very Europeans who have joined me in doubting my own country’s government over the past eight years.
I happened to be at home in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. I didn’t know what to do with myself afterwords. I wanted to help somehow; I wanted to be part of the community. So, I spent all day on September 12 standing in line to donate blood which, in the end, was probably never used. But, I have that same feeling today of wanting to participate in a community that suffered through this together. I want to walk the streets and thank the Americans for not only voting but for taking a leap of faith in the right direction. Not everyone who voted for Obama was convinced by him from the start. But the fact that many were eventually swayed by his persuasive speeches and spirit restores my faith that change is already on the horizon.
This morning, my husband and I attended a celebratory breakfast hosted by the American Embassy in Belgium. I was overwhelmed by my feelings of pride about the outcome of the election. I found myself hardly able to say my name at the front door. Before I knew it, a Belgian television camera shoved a microphone in my face and asked me for my reaction. I had barely had time to reflect on all this and digest what it meant. The result: I sounded like a blubbering fool on camera. We don’t get Belgian television at home so I’ll probably never see my cameo performance. But, it doesn’t matter. Whomever filmed me inevitably captured the excitement in my wavering voice. After the interview, when asked what I was doing in Belgium, I hesitated. (My husband was looking over my shoulder, and his colleague’s wife was standing nearby listening, too.) Was I to say I was the wife of a diplomat? My friend, the colleague’s wife, answered for me. “She’s a journalist,” she piped in for me. It felt good to hear it (even though my interview was hardly articulate!). I dismissed my not-so-telegenic jitters by devouring one of the doughnuts being passed around and reveled in the wonders of American commercial bakeries like Sarah Lee and Freighoffer’s that seem to have the shelf-life of a presidential campaign.
I love thinking that my son might ask me one day if a white man can also become President of the United States. And, I also love thinking that the little girl I am carrying in my tummy (due in March 2009!) will come into this world thinking it’s perfectly normal that the 44th President of the United States is named Barack Hussein Obama.
All of the television networks carried underlying ticker tapes of news happening in the rest of the world while election day in America was taking place. I couldn’t help but think that those headlines were the bullet points of the to-do list that awaits President Obama. It’s daunting. And he cannot be expected to tackle it all. But even if he tackles just a third of what is hoped, I’ll be satisfied. Whether it’s pulling us out of this economic depression, offering health care to all those who aren’t covered by it, working on immigration reform, or tackling the aftermath of the Iraq War — it’s an overwhelmingly intimidating and infinite list of urgencies. But I feel confident that with his steady determination, remarkable poise and extraordinary intelligence, he will continue to make me proud to be an American. Yes, he will. Yes, he can.
