Pour l'amour de Paris {For the love of Paris}: The Obamas in England

The Obamas with the Queen of England and the King Consort

All day today on tv was live coverage of the Obamas in England. Of course, mom and I were glued to the screen. I was/am so proud to see our President and First Lady represent the U.S.

The Obamas with the British Prime Minister (David Cameron)

and his lovely wife (Samantha Cameron)

You know it's all about the dress - stunning!

FLOTUS with some serious bling - Gorgeous,

though I must say her radiance shines brighter than the diamonds

At one point, I looked over to see that mom was crying. I thought that I knew why, but I asked her. She said that although Barack Obama has been our President for 2 years, it still feels like a dream to her. My mother is the grandaughter of a slave, she grew up in a segregated America where the doctrine of separate but equal was not only cultural custom but law. She grew up in an America where the beating and lynching of Black people was televised live and the offense(s)? Trying to vote, or eat in restaurant, or ride in the front of a bus, or move into a 'restricted' neighborhood. And in her lifetime, she's seen her country change from that to this:

POTUS & FLOTUS - it's a beautiful thing

Of course, from the moment of his election our President has been labled a Socialist, a Fascist, a man as dangerous as Hitler, an anti-colonial Mau Mau, a man who has a deep seated hatred of white people (presumably that includes his beloved mother, and the equally beloved grandparents who raised him), a man who's hatred of America is in his swarthy DNA, killer of the elderly, a man so dangerous it would endanger American children to even hear him speak, an Affirmative Action baby, a fake and a fraud, a man from whom our country must be taken back from - at any and all cost. And through it all he has not only endured the slings and arrows, President Obama has risen above and handled his business.

Yes, I find that the President's and First Lady's beautiful and heartfelt welcome(s) in England and Ireland (where 60,000+ people came to see him and FLOTUS) are a welcome breath of fresh air A gust strong enough to disperse the cloying miasma of bad JuJu, if only for a while. And while I usually begin my posts with an appropriate quote, for this post I've decided to end with one. A quote I believe perfectly profiles our President and First Lady...

"To live content with small means;

to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, no respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden, and unconscious, grow through the common

this is my symphony."

- William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)