Last night was unseasonably warm for December. My husband and I were actually on the porch with just light sweaters, looking at the moon and the stars last night. We were watching the clouds move across the face of the moon, a slight breeze pushing them on. We thought it was treat but apparently tonight will be an even bigger treat for star gazing.

Tonight is supposed to be a full moon and it will be a rare full moon because it will be closer to the earth that it have ever been in the last 15 years. Being closer to the earth means it will appear to be larger and brighter than ever. The forecast is that tonight will be colder than last night, but you can be sure we’ll be out there gazing at the moon.

Are you a sky gazer too? We are. It is an awesome sight, the stars are, for one. But more importantly, for me it’s a time for introspection. Realizing that no matter how large my problems and worries seem to be, in proportion to the universe, it really is just small stuff.

I didn’t have to stay up late last night after all. Not even two hours after our polls closed, even though N.C. was too close to call at the time, it was apparent who our next president was going to be. Our phone started ringing. You’d think it was Christmas. I felt like crying but squealed instead. We giggled a lot. But part of the time, we were somber even melancholy. We thought about our parents, grand parents and great grandparents who would never have believed this day would come.

It should not have mattered in the first place, it shouldn’t have been an issue, but damn, a black American is finally in the white house! I’m at a loss for words… It’s hard to describe how much pride I’m feeling right now. How much more the people I love? They who lived through segregation? They who couldn’t get a drink of water because they had a touch of black? They who couldn’t vote and were persecuted for wanting to vote? They who suffered unspeakable humiliation just for existing?

It’s not that a dark skinned person is finally president of this country, it’s not that that makes me happy. I am happy and I am hopeful that maybe there is a chance for people to change after all. I am hopeful that the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King’s talked of, of not being judged by the color of one’s skin, is finally sinking in. I think a lot of the celebration going on last night is not about having finally got one of our own in there, it’s that finally, we are being judged by the content of our hearts and mind rather than the wrapping it came with.

This happens to me all the time. Call it coincidence, call it karma. Whatever you call it, I really do believe that you call to you what you need.

Anyway, just today I was thinking about teenagers. Ours and other people’s. You see, one teenager we know has been worrying her family because of how sullen and withdrawn she has become. She used to be a very sweet little girl. Most of us would chuck it up to typical teenage angst. Most of us say she’ll get over it.

It seems to me, that this ‘phase’ is such a waste of time and energy. And truthfully, there are a lot of kids who just don’t ever get over the ‘phase’. It escalates and manifests into different issues that affect them for the rest of their lives. Take the story I just read from Trent about a gifted child:
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Last night Jade went to a party at her friend’s house. I jokingly said before she left, bring me some left overs. She gave me her mortified-and-you-are-so-embarrassing look and kept going. She knew I was just kidding because I’d be the first one to talk about people who go to parties with the sole intent of bringing food home. Of course, if it is offered, I have nothing against taking left over party food home rather than letting it go to waste. I’m not that proud LOL!

I remember one party where one person even brought her own containers! Of course she was being considerate of the host, so she wouldn’t have to hunt for containers for her guests to take home.

Then there’s another incident where one person actually started making plates to take home before all the guests even had a chance to make their plates! This person had a stack of foil covered plates next to them while they were eating their plate at the party.

Anyway, back to Jade and the party. When I went to pick her up, she came out with a bag full of food. I’m like, you actually accepted food to take home? She said that her friends mom insisted her guests take food home because they had made too much and it would have gone to waste. *eye roll from her here* She goes, you happy now?

Well, after I saw she came home with green papaya salad and pan fried noodles, yeah, I was happy! hehe!