I’ve watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama most of the day: the oath of office, his speech, the parade, the analyses. Now I’m getting ready to watch coverage of the official inaugural balls this evening. It’s almost too much to absorb.

If I feel this way, and I’m among the privileged white class in America, I can only imagine how others feel. Time after time today television commentators queried attendees, mostly black, and asked how they saw this day. The standard response was that the person never dreamed to see an African-American President in his or her lifetime.

Never dreamed . . .

Even though we’re taught that anyone in this country can achieve a dream. That anyone can better his or her situation. That anyone can grow up to be President. John F. Kennedy demonstrated that Catholics could become President, but it was left to Barack Obama to demonstrate that people of a minority race could also become President. How democratic is that?

Today I listened to the common man, to various commentators on different TV stations, and to the words of Barack Obama himself. What is there left to say? Yet, in the spirit of adding to collective memory, I recall my own slight connection with the Civil Rights Movement. It occurred in 1958, when my Mother and I moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, just after the then-Governor Orville Faubus stood in the doorway of Central High School and refused a federal mandate to integrate by denying nine black students the right to attend school there. Ultimately, all city schools were closed rather than attempt desegregation.

My Mother and I were Northerners, and we quickly learned how it was in the South. We learned to be careful too. To this day, I remember visiting the most prosperous retail store in downtown Little Rock, using the women’s restroom, and coming out of it to find a water fountain that read “For Whites Only.” It stunned me. I also remember that black people automatically walked to the back of the bus, that the Catholic school I attended didn’t accept blacks — and didn’t have to because it was a “private” school under the law — and that there were only certain jobs open for them.

But the most stunning revelation was that my Mother’s opinion and my own were considered offensive, even anathema, heresy. To accept blacks was to invite acute criticism. In fact, my Mother was legally required to submit a list of organizations she belonged to or had contributed to so that she could maintain her job with the University of Arkansas. She believed it had to do with making sure employees had not contributed to the NAACP. Shortly thereafter we moved north again.

Obama’s inauguration makes our slight travails even less significant. During my brief time in the South, I learned that racism was alive and well in the mid-sixties. Today I learned that, even though it’s taken over forty years — and racism is still alive and well in many places in our country — I believe Obama’s election draws us closer as a nation and quite possibly works to erase racial discrimination forever.

So far I have missed most of the pre-inaugural hoopla that occurred over the weekend. It wasn’t for lack of interest; rather it was for lack of being able to learn when various activities were televised. Our local newspaper has the annoying habit of offering an abridged version only of the evening’s programming. So if you don’t watch TV regularly — like I don’t — and catch the constant promotion of upcoming programs it’s hard for them to come on your radar.

This morning, for instance, I learned from two different friends that HBO had a wonderful concert last night. But I spent the evening reading. Not such a bad alternative, but it did point out that I need to be a little more pro-active if I want to see Obama take the oath of office in real time and not just on the evening news. I was about to Google® something like “television schedule for the inauguration,” when Earl gave me a quick lesson in how to use the “Guide” feature of our TV. I watch it so rarely, I didn’t even know you could do this. But, sure enough, programming for a couple weeks is right there under your nose with the press of a button on the remote.

Now I’m ready for tomorrow’s dawn to dusk coverage of the inauguration, the parade, and the ten official balls that President and Mrs. Obama are attending. I’ve got one other essential ingredient ready too. That would be my ironing board, and I predict I’ll be completely caught up by bedtime.

In less than forty-eight hours, the incumbent President will leave the White House for the last time while the newly inaugurated President will begin his term of office. Even though this happens every four or eight years, each departing and arriving seems different.

President-elect Barack Obama’s journey to become President soon ends as he takes the oath of office for the highest position in the land. It remains to be seen how he does once he’s actually installed in office; and the skeptics among us are holding their collective breathe. At the same time, how can we deny the joyousness of the day?

Some may argue that Obama is not an African American but a mixed-race President. I see that point of view, but I also see that Obama categorizes himself as African-American. Given this country’s contentious relationship with African Americans, why would Obama choose to identify himself as one unless he felt he was? (I know, I know; some believe in political expediency. Regardless, so be it.) Which means Tuesday’s inauguration is the first of an African-American, one who has risen rapidly and charismatically, somewhat like another candidate in an era where being a Roman Catholic was considered a disadvantage.

I plan to watch a lot of the activities in Washington live next Tuesday. I want to see the swearing in, the parade, even the official — and maybe an unofficial or two — balls. The next day, however, I want to see President Obama get down to work to resolve some of the issues that person formerly known as President Bush didn’t even address in his farewell speech.

It will be tough.

In less than forty-eight hours, the incumbent President will leave the White House for the last time while the newly inaugurated President will begin his term of office. Even though this happens every four or eight years, each departing and arriving seems different. A lot has to do with what the incumbent did or didn’t accomplish in his years in office. Even more depends on what the public thinks about those accomplishments or lack of.

Last night George W. Bush gave his official farewell address to the nation. I watched it in real time and then saw it again in its entirety later in the evening. I can’t say I gleaned anything new in either viewing. President Bush stuck to what has been his main theme since September 11, 2001. He talked about how our country is safer because of his tackling the “hard” decisions, how democracy is thriving elsewhere, how it’s our job to make sure it does thrive. He spoke of Afghanistan and how women are now being allowed to attend school there. (Forget the fact that some women have had acid thrown in their faces for trying.) He spoke of Iraq and called it a budding democracy in the Middle East. (Forget the fact that the country has lost thousands upon thousands of its citizenry to this democracy).

He didn’t mention the economy, which is certainly in a severe slump, or New Orleans, which has certainly not recovered. He didn’t mention Gitmo or “Mission Accomplished.” Or Scooter Libby. I honestly didn’t expect him to. In fact, I’m willing to acknowledge that a farewell speech attempts to end on a high note.

The only thing is that Bush’s speech sounded like revisionist history to me.