Did you cry?

Because I did.
I'm speaking of the evening of November 4. I know, I know, it's been almost two weeks already, but I've been conducting my own unofficial poll. My female friends on the whole are reporting the same reaction, and we all seemed surprised by the power of our own reactions. Personally, the results were announced so early in the evening that I was really taken off guard, one minute they've counted Vermont and Kentucky, the next minute this screen flashes on stating Obama is the 44th President.
I'm trying to figure out what it was, but it was a complex mix of emotions. Massive relief, an influx of joy, but it's all distilled into one feeling since then: redemption. Finally it seems we have bought back our collective national soul.
On November 5, being a stay-at-home mom, I felt utterly disconnected from the fabric of collective life, I ached for water-cooler discussions of what this all meant. Before the election, I felt certain that were Obama elected, I would surely feel elated for an entire week. I'm still happy, but we seem to have moved on from the celebrations so fast. Is it the times?
One last note, that made me feel vindicated. I found out from the Durham Board of Elections tally that 75% of Durham voters chose Obama. Wow. It's nice to have confirmation for what you suspected, and to be in a crowd on this issue.