Twenty eight

I was born twenty eight years ago, on the day that both Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States and the American diplomats being held hostage in Iran were released to US custody. It's something I know simply because I was born on that day. My mom has told me the story a few times, of how she spent the day watching Reagan's inauguration and the developing story of the hostage situation in Iran, until a certain someone decided it was time and demanded some attention. After my delivery, she passed out and woke up thinking she was a hostage in Iran, luckily not for long. It's an interesting way to start life. I've never really thought about me being born, but I feel this year that things have somehow come full circle. I like that every four or eight years, my birthday coincides with the optimism of a new president's official swear-in ceremony and the inevitably uplifting words. A fresh start and the hope that accompanies the unknown. I listened to Reagan's address yesterday, just out of curiosity, and I know he wasn't always the most awesome president, depending on which camp you fall in, but listening to that speech, or any president's inaugural speech, brings a little swell of proud hope into your heart. I felt it yesterday as I listened to his words and I felt it even more so today as I listened to Obama's. Both then and now, the US was faced with a dark recession and no matter how deep the hole, an eloquently delivered speech temporarily soothes the starkest of fears, especially for those of us who are just trying to live our lives. Perhaps it's silly to think that I was born into a day of hope as Reagan spoke of prosperity and, a short while later, the fifty two hostages who had been held for over a year stepped out into the sun as free people. Maybe they squinted at the brightness of the sun as they emerged for the first time, just as I squinted at the glare of the hospital lamps in my first blinking moments of life. Maybe they struggled to breath in deeply because the air felt so clean and new after months of staleness, just as I stretched out my lungs to deliver my first wail of surprise. Maybe they felt a renewed interest in and love for life, just as I was becoming aware of it. With the hopeful words of a new president playing quietly in the background, we both gained life that day, they having it handed back to them and I having it start anew. I'd like to think that twenty eight years from right now, somewhere out there a birthday girl or boy will take an interest in the day of their birth and discover that there is quite a bit to reflect on and that the world really is a hopeful place.