President Barack Hussein Obama

Our 44th president and first family.

This has been a historic election. Having a woman as Vice President or President is a stronger possibility and not such a foreign idea in Americans' minds. Having a man whose father was from Kenya and raised as a Muslim and who later became atheist and Kenya's senior government economist happened. Having a feisty, powerful and strong black first lady who grew up on the South Side of Chicago and graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School is here. And two beautiful little first daughters!

This is a man who grew up working hard and ran on integrity, hope and change. He found and surrounded himself with an incredible team of brilliant and powerful people who tapped into the world that we are now and harnessed the power of the Internet. He is a man who built coalition, who brought people together. This is a man who often said the taboo words of gay, lesbian, equality.

This is bittersweet for me. I am so unbelievably overwhelmed and proud of his achievement. I am also anxious about the next few years ahead. I believe that he will be a strong leader who will bring America back into the global community and mend the wreckage of the past 8 years. He is a man who respects women and their rights. However, much damage has been done. Can anyone unravel the past 8 years (and possibly further)? Can anyone bring us out of this economic morass? Can anyone do the right thing for Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc? We have so overloaded our future, our children with debt - can this be corrected?

I'm not sure but I am so glad that he has stepped up to the challenge and will thoughtfully, methodically, work with the right people to make things better.