President Obama!!!

For the first time in eight years the opening notes of "Hail to the Chief" caused me to swell with a sense of pride, patriotism and pleasurable anticipation. The family gathered. We cried — tears of happiness and relief.

Now we are going to have the Inauguration Day brunch we've been planning since November 4: cinnamon-loaded French toast (no more of that faux "freedom toast," thank you), maple syrup, crisp bacon. And we'll raise a glass of Champagne to the First Family and what they mean to us on this, a day for the history books.