"The Civil War is over. Let reconstruction begin."

thomas friedman ended his NYT column with those nine, simple words this morning. honestly, i'm really trying to get there. i am. i know we have a long way to go. i know this victory could turn out to be the least of obama's wins. he could find his New Deal to get us out of this economic crisis. he could get us out of iraq.

but i'm not there yet.

i'm stuck in shock and awe. not in his win -- in our win -- truly, i never let myself think we'd lose. but in how the last two years and the crecendo we've been reaching for the last 24 hours has made me rethink myself, as an american. bold/lame statement? maybe. but give me a minute.

i thought i cared about something as deeply as was humanly possible. everything i felt was black and white. we must end a war we never should have started. the government cannot dictate the decisions a woman makes about her life and her body. we have to give every man, woman, child the medical help they need with no questions asked.

those were my passions. then, at just after midnight last night, i realized there was something i cared about more than these issues, which had occupied my thoughts and obnoxious bar room debates for two years.

i felt something that i hadn't in a long time, and didn't even realize i hadn't. had almost forgotten what it felt like. i was proud to be an american.

finally. finally, i wasn't embarrassed to say i was an american. i knew i wouldn't have to pause after announcing my country when talking to my newest pals from down under, waiting for their judgement. i no longer had to pretend i was canadian -- pretty depressing when quebec's a better option than boston.

for the first time that i can remember, my heart is full of images of my country, of my neighbors, of my heroes, really. to think, we were called unamerican, unpatriotic for believing in hope and change. but today we open the newspaper and all across america these two images are all we see. it seems hope and change define america.

so, yes, we have a long way to go. but i think we can start tomorrow.