America. Grown up.

There have been many times I have said "I'm embarrassed to be an American." Sometimes I think our country has lost it's way. Years ago when the reality tv craze hit and news stations started presenting the news so they could get better ratings instead of providing information, I made a statement something like, "We have turned a corner and there's no going back."

Last night I watched a woman give a speech that opened my heart. I was so proud of her. I cried tears of joy for her and her family. I cried because she touched my heart. I am so proud of her and her husband, the president, that I must say, "if they are the representatives of my country, then I am proud to be an American."
I was raised in a place that most definitely one would call racist. I was raised in a family that I would call racist. I was most definitely raised in a fearful racist environment. I don't blame my family or the environment. It was all they knew. But, never-the-less, I was born in a time when the idea of Barack and Michelle in office would have been a joke, maybe even an insult to my America.

Now, there they are. I am proud of them and I am proud of my country for growing up and voting them in. I am proud of my country for choosing a man to be president, based on his values and integrity, not his color or social status. I realize that our country has come a long way from that environment I grew up in that was all about fear.Thanks Michelle for stirring up my feelings of pride in my country.

Thanks America for acting like a grown-up in the world again.