Crying again

Kota Kinabalu Airport from Bokutachi No Blog

I've been doing that a lot lately. Fatigue, work stress, end of a project, elections, and the thin time of Samhain - all of the above and who knows what else?

See if you can make it through this without getting misty:

While waiting at the airport in Kota Kinabalu and girl about 9 years old saw my button. She smiled broadly. I said hello and she asked if I wanted Obama to win because she did and her whole family did and that that morning they said a prayer that he would. I told her that I thought Barack would like that a girl all the way in Kota Kinabalu said a prayer for him. She asked could I tell him that they were praying for him and I said I would send an email to his headquarters. She was so excited that she ran to tell her parents. Her father came over and asked me if I knew Obama. I told him I had seen him speak, but never met him. He said that his whole community was praying for Obama and that he appreciated that I would write an email to tell him. He took my hand and said, we are praying for all of the American people too. This was the second stranger to take my hand today. It was my turn to have tears in my eyes, because this man, who I didn't know, was completely sincere. I thanked him. He said, "all of us, together...do you understand?" I said, "All of us together." We parted...smiling!

This is part of a letter from someone who has just been traveling in Asia. Wearing an Obama button, the traveler was smiled at, given thumbs up, approached, and treated like royalty. The recipient of the letter, emmeka at Daily Kos, recalls how things were very different when traveling in Asia just after the invasion of Iraq. Read the whole thing here.
--the BB