Barack Obama's inauguration was special for many people at the Statehouse today. I think you could characterize some of them as giddy. Here are some people who'll remember this day a long time:
- Dr. Harret Banda, a pediatric resident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who was at the Statehouse learning how to advocate, comes originally from Malawi and voted for the first time in the U.S. this past November. As one of the few black women in her field, she said she feels the burden of being a role model. When she sees how Barack Obama carries that burden, she finds it easier, she said. "It gives me the sense that I can do it too," she said.
- A group of eighth-graders who are serving as legislative pages sat riveted through the inauguration the way some kids sit riveted through "SpongeBob." They all wished they could have been there in D.C. to see it in person.
"I can't wait to see what he does to help the country," said Stanford Attig, 13, of Barre town.
"I think we're totally going to remember this," said MacKenzie St. Onge, 13, of Stowe.
It struck me after talking to the pages that I can't recall any presidential inaugurations with the kind of specificity these kids expect to remember this one. I can't tell you whether I watched Richard Nixon be sworn in when I was 8. Or Jimmy Carter when I was 16. I can't place where I was when Bill Clinton or either George Bush took the oath.
Some people seem to be suggesting this one is different.
- Terri Hallenbeck
