Well, the campaign is over. Now comes the hard part…

It was with a tremendous swelling of pride that I watched Barack Obama’s eloquent victory speech. There have been few moments in the last eight years where I have been truly, deeply, proud of my country and how it is perceived in the global community. I voted for Barack Obama, not without reservation. I hope his governance matches his eloquence and grace. If he’s capable of achieving that, we will have made the right decision.

Previous readers of this blog won’t be surprised that, as much as I voted for Obama, I also voted against John McCain and Sarah Palin. John McCain, through selecting the worst possible team to run his campaign, has reduced whatever honor and respect he had to a shambles. He walks away from this election an impotent, diminished Senator, who should rightfully pay the price for the decisions he made, chief among them the decision to put Sarah Palin on the ticket.

I thought McCain’s concession speech was elegant and graceful. If we had seen more of that guy, and a VP-pick of virtually anyone else, his speech might have been one of victory.

While I still believe in the best of America, it is with the heaviest of hearts that I woke to the news that my civil rights as a tax-paying, law-abiding American citizen had been revoked. A strong campaign, driven by faith-based hate and deception, sent people to the polls to enshrine hatred, fear, and bigotry into our state constitution by passing Proposition 8. Ironically, it appears that the increased African-American turnout to vote for Obama also voted overwhelmingly (nearly 80%) for YES on PROP 8. I would have hoped that a minority would not want to inflict the same sort of repression and bigotry that they have experienced for centuries onto another minority. In hindsight, it would appear that my expectations were too high.

Now the lawsuits and challenges will begin, as they should. The Mormon church will also be investigated for their role in funding the campaign as well. This will take years to work its way through the courts, and will hopefully be overturned, again.

But, this morning as my husband and I absorbed the news, we were able to do what spouses do - console each other. Our relationship started over 12 years ago, and in that time our love has grown stronger and deeper, to the point where I believe our bond is unbreakable. We have made a solemn vow to each other; to love, honor, and cherish. That vow stands today.

We do what all married couples do: We work. We make dinner. We shop. We hang out and listen to music. We try to be patient with each other. We watch movies. We lavish too much attention on the dog. We spend way too much time on Facebook and iTunes. We argue as little as possible. We throw a damn good party. We love our family and friends deeply. We people-watch and giggle with each other at the silliness of it all. We comfort each other when our friends die. We do as much TOGETHER as we can because we love each others company.

To paraphrase a notable saying, he is my East, my West, my North, my South.

Regardless of what any state or church says, that unbreakable sacred bond IS marriage - and I am as married today as I was yesterday.