I gotta get to the inauguration

I can't let this kid down

So there I sat on election night, eyes all brimming with joy, heart all aflutter with yes-we-can optimism, guts all knotted with regret.  I wanted to be in Grant Park in Chicago, crying and cheering at hope's ground zero.  

So, now I'm scheming to get to the inauguration.  Getting a ticket from a California rep. is out of the question.  I went to Jackie Speiers' website and it says she's gotten over 3,000 requests for her 198 tickets.  BUT, and here's where my hope lies, my in-laws live in Oklahoma, where they pump up Republicans from the ground with their oil.  I figure there can't be more than a few hundred folks from down that way who want to go to freezing DC on January 20 to celebrate with the liberal elite. So, my mother-in-law has put in a request to her rep.  It's a long shot, but I've got to at least try to be a part of history.

I can't let this happen.

MAGGIE (twenty years hence): Mom did you get to witness the inauguration of the first black president of the U.S.?

ME (all stressed-out, with a bad dye-job): No dear, I was taking advantage of Old Navy's post-holiday sales.

I think I'll make us go even if we don't have tickets.  We can just stand far away, chattering with cold and good old American pride.