A Night to Remember

Dear Readers,

It's now 1:00 a.m. Denver time and I just finished packing and will head to bed in just one minute. I hope you will return even when the convention is over, because I plan to write about many of my experiences. I am just so tired, I can't write much tonight.

Being in Mile High Stadium tonight witnessing the historic election of the first African-American nominee by either major party was truly remarkable. The logistics of the event were awful (for us and for Denver), but it went off without a hitch.

Being on the field as he spoke only about 100 feet away from him was special. Everyone one of us in that place knew we were experiencing history together. I happened to be sitting directly next to the State Superintendent of Education from California, Jack O'Connell, behind former Governor Gray Davis and his wife and to the left of San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsome. It was a enough to make a guy feel pretty darn special...and super lucky.

We were moved to chills and yells nearly every minute it seemed. And in the end as the fireworks shot off and the music played in the background and confetti fell to the ground, those of us on the field just looked up into the stands at the thousands of people and looked at one other with hardly a word...we knew...the ground we stood on, the time we shared was historic and we would forever be connected by our shared experience--the acceptance of the nomination by the first black presidential candidate on the 45th anniversary of the "I Have A Dream" speech given by Martin Luther King. What a beautiful illustration of poetic irony (look it up, students :-).

Then it was just mahem. People took every momento that wasn't bolted to the ground. No one wanted to leave without some tangible souvenier to remind them of the moment they had shared with 75,000 of their new best friends. It was quite an experience.

I have more to tell...meeting Hillary (yes that was one of the coolest moments of my life), getting my picture taken with Civil Rights leader John Lewis who marched alonside Martin Luther King, and the family of friends I made with fellow delegates. I do hope you will come back to read even when the "hype" is through.

How about this picture of Hillary autographing my credentials?

FYI...I am going to be organizing a "town hall" meeting wherein those of you who are interested can see pictures, hear my stories, and ask questions. I'll post/send more details when I have them.

Thanks!
Erik