USA: A New Day - New Hopes - I Watched The Swearing-in With My Grandchildren

. PORTLAND, Maine / TimeGoesBy.Net / March 2, 2009 The Elder Storytelling Place A New Day - New Hopes By Lois Cochran of Guitar Grandma Guitar Grandma is a lady in her mid-sixties who enjoys spending time with her grandchildren...watching the birds & squirrels, playing the guitar (chords only), singing, reading, writing, and spending time with friends...Part of a group called the “Whiffenpoofs” which visits Assisted Living Facilities and Alzheimer Centers with guitars and singing voices and sing WITH the residents, songs from their era - and ours. Well, I’m in danger of sounding like a silly school girl and trust me when I say, I’m not. I watched with my grandchildren the swearing-in of President Barack Obama with tears in my eyes while my heart began to sing a new song. I find myself having renewed faith in the future of this wonderful country and the people who will be leading us for the next few years. This feeling is a welcome change from the last few years of disillusionment, anger and despair. I feel like my grandchildren may after all be able to stand tall and proudly proclaim their love for their country. I think they will understand and believe that the government that represents them will listen to them but also expect something of them. I hope that they will understand that the government will not solve all of their problems. I hope they will understand that they have a responsibility to respond to the needs of their fellow man and to serve their country when the need arises. I hope that we have put behind us the era of conspicuous consumption as well as the gross self-indulgence of recent years. I hope we can begin to see beyond ourselves to the needs of others and the intrinsic value of each person and each country that shares this planet. Perhaps our new president will actually turn out to be what he appears to be: a man of integrity and honor with a great love for his country and the people he represents. Perhaps he will instill in all of us a desire to be better; a desire to rise above all expectations and excel, refusing to settle anymore for mediocrity or even less. How can we hope for any less for our grandchildren? © 2009 Ronni Bennett.