The Joy of History

My love of history started when I was very young and loved to watch Shirley Temple's historical movies like Susannah of the Mounties. When I was in second grade, I fell in love with westerns and John Wayne. I watched Wagon Train on TV every week and enjoyed history lessons at school. I got A's in my favorite subject and won a prestifious Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) award for excellence in history on the last day of 5th grade.

My parents voted for Richard Nixon in 1960, but in our mock election at Corona del Mar Elementary School, I voted for John F. Kennedy because he was a World War II hero. All my mother had to do was tell me "history is being made," and I'd pay attention to her. That's how she got me to spend five long, hot, boring hours on bleachers in the dirt waiting for President Lyndon B. Johnson to arrive and talk for 15-minutes at ground-breaking for the new University of California, Irvine.

No wonder I became a history major at UCI, even though about the only thing I knew I'd be able to do with that degree was teach. I WANTED to teach history, but after graduation I couldn't find a teaching job any closer to Newport Beach than Barstow.

Today I'm still addicted to historic events. And this presidential election was one of the best and most interesting historic events I've witnessed in my half century on the planet! I didn't even mind the political ads this year (except for a few of the ones about CA propositions). I loved the infomercials. I watched the media's coverage of both the Democratic and Republican conventions. What fun to have a black man and woman on the ballot.

Last night, I cried tears of joy when Obama gave his acceptance speech, and not because Oprah and Jesse Jackson were crying. I was simply overcome with the joy of history. I had goosebumps similar to the ones I experienced in 1969, watching Neil Armstrong jump off that ladder onto the powdery surface of the moon. Once again, I get to be a part of something positive that generations to come will read about and discuss. The earth-shaking news that an African-American was elected U.S. president overshadowed all the earth-shattering news about the world economy downfall to create another truly historic, shining "Camelot moment." History rocks!