E-mails from the mall
Rachel Barksdale (center) of Washington, D.C., reacts to the performance of Stevie Wonder Sunday at the We Are One pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
I’ve been getting lots of e-mails from people we met over our time in Washington. Today I heard from Rachel Barksdale who sent me her synopsis of the three days that changed Washington.
I publish it here with her permission.
rlh
I went to the concert alone though I knew before it ended I would have met several interesting people. Before entering the concert grounds, I noticed this little guy who appeared to be seven or eight years old running as fast as he possibly could. While wondering where his parents were, I turned around and noticed that his mother was immediately behind me. She indicated that she allowed him to run across the street quickly so that he was always in her view. (Because, I am over 50, I do not recall her name, but she is from Memphis and is to the left of me wearing a blue coat. Her son is wearing an orange hood.) This little fellow seemed to be more concerned about playing his game than attending the concert because after crossing the street he stood perfectly still for several minutes playing it. When we arrived on the concert grounds (in front of the Lincoln Memorial), we managed to get a great spot on a hill near the side of the Reflecting Pool. To my surprise, the little guy seemed to be listening to everyone on the program, he would sporadically jump up to attempt to view the monitor, or complain that he could not see what was going on, at which time a stranger (so I thought) put him on his shoulder to watch the concert. He was very interested in the presentation of the Bald Eagle and President Obama’s speech – at that time, he totally forgot that he had previously been obsessed with his game. (A note to my friends at Akin. The stranger turned out to be Sara’s husband. As you may recall, Sara had been the Manager of the Accounting Department at Akin in the 90’s. Of course, we discussed the good old days and the current state of Akin, etc. She asked me to say hello to everyone. What a small world!!!)
Denzel Washington (what a guy!!!) was the first speaker to greet the crowd and explained the purpose of the concert. From that point, “IT WAS ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.” There were speeches by President Biden, Tiger Woods, Samuel Jackson, and others — all of the speeches were wonderful, sweet, and short. To mention a few, there was music by Beyonce, Garth Brook, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and, to say the least, STEVIE WONDER (my favorite musician) – THAT’S WHEN THE PARTY REALLY STARTED. We danced and laughed until President Obama spoke. Then the crowd was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. I held it together (emotionally) and was so proud of our country and new President until he began speaking about how we, as a Nation, have come together, how those before us sacrificed their lives and welfare to get us to this point, and how appreciative and humble he was that the attendance was so overwhelming despite the cold weather. (I don’t believe any of us felt, knew, or cared what the temperature was after the concert began.) After we pulled ourselves together, more singing followed. By that time, we had given up dancing alone and a row consisting of 8-10 strangers joined together to form a line dance (well not really a dance, but kicking from left to right).
I noticed a gentleman taking pictures and, as most of you have guessed, I asked if I may have copies of some of them. He responded by giving me the name of his website to view the photographs. After checking the website yesterday, it is obvious that he is a professional photographer and is a very interesting person.
My synopsis, when attending family reunions, the bond that family members (some of whom you have never seen before) share, was the bond that was shared by well over 2 Million People Sunday through Tuesday. It was unbelievable and overwhelming — I hope that it continues forever. After leaving the parade, when I reached 14th and I Streets (one of the points to enter the viewing of President Obama’s swearing in and the parade), I looked back and there was a sea of people. Not a single person seem to be concerned about the temperature or the crowd — what a beautiful scene. My thought is that America has been returned to its citizens, we have made voluminous strides, we still have a long way to go, but we are on our way. I have never been so proud of US and the US (United States).
Thanks for taking the time to peruse the above,
Rachel
