November through December 2008 [2009-01-20]

November

I took the month of November off and it began with one of the most moving events of my sixty years existence. On November 4 Barrack Hussein Obama was elected President of the USA. This was one of those historical moments that you remember for the rest of your life, remembering exactly where you were when you learned that, a man had walked on the moon, or of the assassinations of John F.Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the fall of the Berlin Wall and more recently the attack in the USA on Sept 11 2001. Too many of these events which have marked these last sixty years that I have been an avid witness to the spectacle of history unfolding around me have been sad and tragic events. The historical fact of this election, Barrack Obama is a man of mixed race, a white mother from Kansas and a African father from Kenya was inconceivable sixty years ago and even unthinkable for so many even a year ago.

A little more than a year ago my son Sebastian informed me that he had donated 25 dollars to his campaign. I had heard about his speech at the previous Democratic Convention but Sebastian’s interest prompted me to take a close look at him. I became even more of a news and political blog addict than before and the more I saw and heard of him the more impressed I became. As I am not tribalist, it was much more the high level of his intelligence and character that made me a supporter than his race. The fact that he was a mixed race American made me proud but this would not have sufficed for me nor I believe, for the many who voted for him. He did not win because of his race but in spite of it. I had been following several political blogs since the primary season and was expecting an October surprise, a secret weapon from the Republicans that never came, unless the appearance of Sarah Palin was supposed to be that weapon. She proved to be the undoing of McCain, since his judgement was strongly put in to question. How could he choose someone so completely unsuited to the job of being Vice President and to be a heart beat away from a 72 year-old President with a shaky medical history.

I could hardly wait for 4 Nov to come and on election night I set my clock for 3:30 I knew that there would not be any results before that time but about 2:00 I could not sleep and I got up and put on my computer, I do not have TV and I watched on the internet, still expecting some last minute glitch. When Pennsylvania and then Ohio were called for BHO I still held my breath until the western states of Oregon, Washington and California were called for him. He had surpassed the magic number of 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidency. I could not contain my wonderment, joy and pride. I wept like a baby, so many years of small indignities that I had suffered personally and those I had only heard about much more serious than mine came back into view clouded by my tears. My daughter Jennie was in Harlem in NYC and she called me and allowed me to hear and see the cries of joy of the crowd. This historical event is overwhelming because of the history of race relations in the USA but even more important for me are the qualities that I see in the President - Elect. He seems to have a vision that is positive and based on intelligent analysis and thought, a 180 degree change from what we have had in the White House during the last 8 years and maybe even during the last 50 years. He inherits a world that is a complete basket case, economical meltdown on a global scale, food shortages, energy, environment, conflicts, health such as Aids and poverty. He will need all of us to find equitable solutions to these problems that concern us all. I have great hope that he has the ability to inspire citizens of the world to work together. Let us hope that power will not corrupt him and that he will remain true to himself and his vision of change that we can believe in for the planet and those of us who inhabit it.

I rounded of the month of November by celebrating my sixtieth birthday quietly with my family on November 20.

December

The month of December, I went from Mozart to the Blues and of course some Christmas concerts in the north of Sweden, in Piteå this was the end of a series of concerts as Artist-in Residence. This last concert included the choir and orchestra from the Music College and this was a joyful ending to a year of great music making and good food, one of Sweden’ best restaurants is in the little town of Piteå. The cold and the snow and the Christmas songs inspired me to start thinking about my preparations for our family celebration of the Christmas season and the beginning of a new year. This year I was not stressed about organizing meals and decorating the house and I truly enjoyed these last two weeks of the 2008. My most precious gift was to be together with quality time. I must say that this year’s turkey dinner surpassed previous ones; the turkey did seem to melt in the mouth. I do not know how I can do better next year. We never forget to acknowledge our blessings of health and love for we know that there are so many all over the world that suffer and are alone.

The tenth of December was also another sixtieth birthday. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the UN in 1948 in San Francisco and finds itself at it most weakened state since then. If we want a more humane and more just world for our children to live in we can not wait for governments and international institutions to act, each one of us must do our part. I ask all of you to make a conscious decision to respect the rights of others, starting with those in your families, at your work and your neighbours and the planet.

I wish you all a healthy 2009 full of love, joy and peace.

Best regards
BH