It really happened.

I teared up at several points during the day yesterday. Without warning, without explanation, it would just hit me. Yes, we can. I'm not even black. I have very few black friends, at least American blacks. I'm friendly with lots, but I'm not boys with many. I have very little understanding of how it feels to be black in this country. All the empathy in the world won't bring that to me. And yet, I felt my eyes burning all day.

I'm not ashamed to say it, even if Michelle Obama got heat for it: yesterday was the first time I've been proud to be an American in quite some time.

Since just before the Iraq War, with an exception for Team USA's gold medal run in Beijing, I have felt a sense of isolation from those who say "God Bless America," as if we are truly a city on the hill. It had been that long -- six years. Our family friend cringed when I said that last night. "No, no, that can't be true." Well it is. And it feels good to be back.

My perspective on things is a little different than the average 24 year old kid from Texas. I left the state for college, and met people from other states. I left the country after college, and met people from other countries. And then I left the western world a little while later, and met people from different planets. The sum of all those experiences left me with a very nuanced view on America's place in the world. People everywhere love the idea of what our country represents. They love Americans. Even in Serbia, the vast majority of people, they feel this way. Almost all of these people, not just in Serbia, but everywhere I've been, feel that America got lost somewhere. She forgot herself. She forgot what she represents.

Hope. The idea that anything is possible.

That's why yesterday was so emotional for me. We showed the world that they shouldn't give up on us just yet. We showed the world that we are still capable of coming together, over an issue not related to terrorism, or boycotting French wines. To me, that is worth the risk. I haven't learned what it feels like to pay bills just yet. That day is soon coming. And maybe it will hurt a little when I feel the sting of a Democrat in office come tax time. It's worth it to me. It's worth the feeling of hope, the feeling of pride to be an American again. Yesterday, for the first time since the Twin Towers fell, I cried for my country. But they were not tears of sorrow.


p.s. To all the travelers I've met over the last two years who are from America and put Canadian flag patches on their backpacks, so as to hide their nationality from judgmental eyes, I have no respect for you. I may have not been proud, but I was never a bitch like you. I always stood up for my country and explained its actions in the world, even if I didn't agree with them. You, however, pretended to be from Canada. You know who you are. And I hope President Obama's first act in office is to strip you of your passports.