I am privileged

Today I feel privileged to have witnessed a great historic event in the history of our United States, the inaugeration of the first black president. Regardless of our political standing, this day will go down in history. I was the daughter of a southern mother and northern father, neither of whom were very politically minded. I grew up in the north. When I was a little older I saw a few things that shocked me and never forgot them. I was very happy to hear our new president emphasize the need to be one united nation.
I was also privileged to have been born toward the tail end of the depression years, hear about days gone by in the old south, about the rise of Hitler, about unions and then World War 11. There were some terrible times in history, but I feel privileged to have been around to hear first hand about them. There was industry moving south and then to Mexico, competition from foreign countries, wars and skirmishes, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam and most recent the problems in the Middle East. I feel privileged to have been around for parts of history that we would like to have been erased. I have been privileged to have known very fine people and read wonderful books. If I'm very, very lucky I'll be around to write about some of the things I
can remember. Most of all, though, I'm privileged to be an American.