Last night this country elected Barack Obama as president. As we sat with friends in our living room waiting for each state to report, the kids were trying to understand what was going on. Evidently fed a line by someone in the room, Mason kept blurting out "Go-bama." He would get a laugh every time, but of course he didn't know what it meant. As the night wore on and we were watching the results, Kenzie kept trying to take it all in.

At about 8:00 the networks announced that Obama had won. John McCain gave an incredible concession speech that encouraged everyone to unite. It was just what we needed to hear as we waited for Obama to come on the stage. Finally, as he and his beautiful family appeared in Chicago, it hit me. I think it hit everyone in our room. We were watching history be made. A Black Family was about to enter the White House. This was truly amazing. Our living room was quiet as we listened to the words of our future president, who was breaking a barrier that perhaps none of us thought we would live to see broken.

Then Kenzie leaned over to me, "Mom, what's the big deal?"

I looked at her face and realized that she doesn't know prejudice or discrimination. I tried to explain to her how amazing it was that our country has overwhelmingly elected this man of color to its highest office, but I realized that race is a non-issue for her. How incredible is that! She goes to school with people of all different colors of skin and they're just all kids. As I looked back at her, I could feel the changing times. It was palpable and yet so surreal.

I didn't have the right words. I tried to say that some people still judge people based on their skin color. She tilted her head a bit, focused on the center of my eyes, as if to see if I'm really telling the truth. To her it was inconceivable. To me, her innocence gave me great hope.