Yesterday was a huge day for our nation. One we'll remember forever. It brought back memories of another January 20th in 1993 when I was a student in Washington, DC. Fellow Georgetown alum, Bill Clinton, was sworn in as President and I was there. Not at the swearing in, which much like yesterday, was nearly impossible to get near, but just being in the city was electrifying. Today I went and dug out my old photo album and scanned in a few pictures to share my brush with history.
The day before the swearing in, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and their wives attended a diplomatic ceremony on campus. Some friends and I got up before dawn, went through security and stood and waited. We had snagged a spot right on a security rail, and from what we could gather, Clinton would be walking along the rail to move from one building to the next. We stood in the cold and waited for three to four hours, but it was worth it. All four, Bill, Hillary, Al and Tipper came down the line and shook our hands. It was absolutely thrilling.
My friend snapped this picture of Hillary as she shook my hand. It all happened so fast, you realize you can't say much, never mind have a conversation. I decided I wanted to say something to Hillary. As a 21 year old woman about to graduate in a few short months and head off to graduate school, it was so exciting to have a First Lady who was a professional and accomplished in her own right. Who would have thought back then that she would have gotten so close to the presidency herself and would now be Secretary of State? So what did I say to her? My profound line was "Hillary, young women are looking up to you!" Not very impressive. But it was the best I could do in the frenzy and craziness of the moment. I remember she thanked me and moved on to the next person.
Here is the blurr of a future president moments before shaking my hand. The morning was exhilarating and I'll never forget it. The next day was the actual inauguration which I remember we watched on tv, then we bundled up again and headed downtown for the parade. It was sunny, but cold and we claimed a curb-side seat on Pennsylvania Avenue. We hoped the new President would venture out of his car, but this was the best we got. A glimpse of the armored limousine as it made it's way down to the viewing stand at the White House. I don't remember any specifics of the parade, but I do remember how it felt. We sat there like sardines with a bunch of strangers from around the country and we all waved flags, feeling like it was a new day and a new start.
Who knows if I'll ever have the chance to be so close to history again, but it was an unforgettable few days.
As a postscript, I have had a moment with the new administration. The closest I got to Barack Obama was sitting in a traffic jam last January trying to go see him speak here in town before the New Hampshire primary. I ended up turning around, going home and watching him on C-Span instead. However it's Vice President Joe Biden who I have actually crossed paths with. In the fall of 1989 I had shared a cab to Union Station with a girl who lived on my floor. We were both going home for a long weekend, she to Delaware and me to New England. As her train was being called she said, "Hey, there's Senator Biden, want to meet him? I went to high school with his kids." So I shook hands with then Senator Biden and exchanged pleasantries about college before he got on the train to return home himself. I guess in some ways it really is a small world.
