Nine Years Ago

Shutterfly is an online photo website where you can upload and store photos, buy prints, make albums and so on. Riding the coat-tails of Facebook, Shutterfly now occasionally sends emails saying “Here are some memories from nine (or eleven or five or whenever) years ago today”. Then it shows me some of my personal photos stored on their site. 

Nine years and a few months ago I moved back home after accepting a buyout from The Palm Beach Post (it was just announced that The Post is going up for sale – reason enough for heartache). It was 2008 and the elections were approaching. Looking at today’s “Memories” sent from Shutterfly made my heart hurt because they are from the night that Obama was elected. Shannon, who was in Illinois at the time, and I decided that when Obama was elected we wanted to be at Grant Park in Chicago for the historic event (which we just knew was going to happen). So we met up there to be a part of it.

My photos and actual memories from that night in Grant Park are filled with so much excitement and hope and joy and pride. Seeing them now makes me sad. Scared almost.

As an only slightly side note- Former White House staff photographer Pete Souza uses his Instagram account in the most brilliant way possible – to troll Trump and show what a class act the Obamas were (you should follow him if you’re on Instagram). His posts are a daily reminder that we had the epitome of class and professionalism leading our country.
I’m still shaking my head, puzzled over how we got here; to this tacky, thoughtless, bottom of the barrel.

There was a long line waiting to enter the park. People were on their phones, getting updates form friends who were near TVs and could provide updated vote numbers.

Shannon jumping for joy and Obama