I had the great pleasure of attending the Presidential Rally for Barack Obama in Grant Park, Chicago Il. It was historic, energizing, and above all, inspiring. The energy in the park was electric, and the emotions ranged from raucous celebration to quite tearfulness as the magnitude of what was happening would sink in.

What struck me the most was actually after the rally. As we took to the streets and walked up Michigan Ave., it felt like a parade. Everyone was joyous, people were sitting on every ledge and stair along the street and applauding, and these cheers would come rushing down the street, drawing us all in. The leaves falling off the trees were like confetti. It felt like we took the city and the entire country back. A positive version of the anti-war protests and the REM video "Everybody Hurts." We were ecstatic and so we got out and walked.

Being in the rally was a time to remember. While the results were coming in, there was the ebb and flow with every announcement. Once the election was called for Obama, we went crazy. Throughout the evening, occasionally someone would come on the PA system to do a sound check. After the announcement for Obama, there was another sound check, with the person saying, "this is the final sound check for the next President of the United States." And we roared. As he would count, he'd say, " one two, one two, Obama one two," and again we roared.

Before President Obama (typing that made my eyes water) spoke, we were led in prayer. I will try and find that prayer to keep for the future. We were led in the Pledge of Allegiance, which meant more to me than at any other point in my life. The crowd sang along to the Star Spangled Banner. McCain's concession speech was broadcast, and it was a wonderful and heartfelt speech. When his named was first announced, some people booed, just as we booed when a state went to McCain. However, we quickly shushed them and applauded McCain. If only his campaign could have been like his speech, we would have had a very different campaign.

When Obama spoke, the crowd was not as energetic as I'd imagined. We were jubilant, but not raucous. I think that was because of his tone. We heard that we had only passed the first hurdle, and had much more to go. With that, we took to the streets.