Election Night Merrymaking

Tuesday night I didn't stray too far from home. Spent the evening at The Custom House bar along Brooklyn Heights' Montague Street, just 5 minutes from my apartment...

Pals Suzanne & Ralph joined me at 6:30 p.m., for the first shift, and stayed until about 8:30... just as bud Tracy and her San Fran bestie Christine arrived.

They headed out around 10:30 as the news started to slow down about the electoral count... and within 15 minutes, I decided to head home... I walked in the door, kissed Abby & Spencer, turned on my muse Rachel Maddow on MSNBC and within 60 seconds heard the words, "We're calling the election. With Obama winning the state of Ohio, he has earned a second term as the 44th President of the United States."

I simply couldn't believe it, expecting—like most of us—that the election might not be settled until the wee hours of the morn. At that point, I rushed in to give the doggies another kiss, made a sizable bowl of ice cream and proceeded to watch MSNBC coverage until 3:30 a.m. Ouch!

This morning, I was stunned to see that my home state of Virginia rallied for Obama a second time... It was too close to call when I at last retired... while Maryland, Washington and Maine won same-sex marriage referendums when put up to a public vote, after 32 successive failures in other states.

This afternoon, learning that the youth vote leaned heavily toward Obama (60% to 37%), I am thankful that the next generation of voters is strongly in favor of leading this nation forward, recognizing that equality matters as much as the economy. It may be snowing outside, but the future looks so very bright. *