season of change

the other day i was walking down the street, kicking my way through the piles of orange, red and gold littering the sidewalk. looking up at the trees, i realized they had shed most of their leaves and were starting to look rather bare, a sure sign that winter is just around the corner. as i thought about how quickly the summer had become fall and now fall was turning to winter, i began to wonder where that time had gone and how it had passed me by so fast. i thought surely it must have been because nothing of note had happened and i had just gone along with my normal routine in a daze, not really paying attention to particular events. immediately after that thought crossed my mind, i almost stopped in my tracks and laughed at how ridiculous it was that i could dismiss these past few months as anything but exciting.

the more i thought about the last few months, the more i realized that many things and people near and dear to me had changed. one friend became a new wife, my sister became a mother for the second time, my niece became a big sister, other friends became pet owners and car owners. some started new relationships, some ended old ones. new jobs, new apartments and new experiences were the norm. this autumn has been nothing short of - appropriately so - a time for turning over new leaves.

on a grand scale, we saw the election of the first african-american president, a man who is promising change and hope to a country starved for better government and leadership. i attended the rally fondly referred to by chicagoans as "obamapalooza" on election night and i still cannot find the appropriate words to describe the atmosphere among the hundreds of thousands gathered there in grant park that night. it was exciting, motivating, inspiring, and moving. people were cheering, crying, chanting and celebrating. saying i'm not sure that it will ever be possible again in my lifetime to feel that sense of camaraderie is probably a gross understatement.

as we all make changes in our lives and our new leaders strive to provoke change throughout our country, let's keep in mind that change is a good thing. with change comes hope - hope for a better life, a better future, a better understanding of each other and ourselves.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi