As the late evening of November 4th, 2008 faded into the early morning of the 5th, I experienced a level of elation unlike anything I had previously felt. When President Elect Obama spoke that night, I couldn't help but cry tears of hope for all of the world. Tears of healing for all of us who were disillusioned, who were scared, who were out of hope. For the first time in years I could see hope for not only the United States, but for the entire world. I sat in awe as a man stepped onto the world stage and vowed that this tidal wave of change is not even close to over. He reassured that our fight is simply beginning and that we can restore ourselves to all that we have hoped for. That day I regained a hope in the American people. November 4th, 2008 is a day I will remember more than the towers falling, the bombs dropping on Baghdad, and the thousands of innocents who saw there demise at the hands of the American people. Nothing will ever erase what happened, but the morning of November 5th, all over the world, the sun rose and our day had come once again. From London to Tokyo, Kabul to Sydney, Capetown to Moscow and everywhere in between people were waking up and turning on their televisions to see that this is not the world they had fallen asleep in the night before. People woke up smiling, subtly, to themselves knowing that soon it will not only all end, but with that dawn emerged a new beginning. In the streets of Omaha, New York, Chicago, all across this nation and inside my soul people were dancing. People who see the promise of an energized electorate and a disallusioned American. On November 4th an America emerged from the shifting darkness and started back on the road to America that you and I can both be proud to call home. For the first time in years I will proudly say that I am an American. Finally, I am proud to call myself a patriot for the first time in my life.