Obama’s supporters celebrate his rise to the presidency

Published 11:00 pm Sunday, January 18, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sally and David Hyde stood in a crowd and gazed past hundreds of thousands of faces Sunday.

There were celebrities — Beyonce, Tom Hanks and Garth Brooks — flag-waving patriots and camera crews from around the world. But the Hydes were interested in just one man: President-elect Barack Obama.

They had traveled 3,000 miles from their home in Edmonds without tickets to Tuesday’s inauguration, an inaugural ball or any formal event. They just wanted to see Barack Obama as he becomes the nation’s first African-American president.

“Race and sex had nothing to do with my vote for Obama, but the bonus is he’s the first African-American president,” said Sally Hyde, 60, a lawyer who now works for the federal government. “It’s a historic moment — that’s why we’re here.”

On Sunday, they attended a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at a Unitarian Church in D.C., then dashed back to their hotel room, which Sally Hyde reserved last May on hopes to see Obama move into the White House.

On the way, they passed TV personality Geraldo and hawkers trying to sell them Obama magnets, earrings and chocolate bars. They reached the National Mall at 2:30 p.m., just as the national anthem was beginning to play.

Gates to the concert, Obama’s first inauguration event in D.C., opened at 8 a.m. A river of people stood between the Hydes and the president-elect, who was watching the concert with his family in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The Hydes watched the action from blocks away on Jumbotrons near the Washington Monument. The Jumbotrons weren’t in sync with the music being broadcast on speakers.

Sally Hyde was looking forward to hearing Stevie Wonder sing, but her camera-toting husband didn’t know a single musician among those scheduled to perform.

“I just want to take pictures,” he said before leaving the hotel. “I don’t even know who is going to be at the concert.”

After listening to Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi, he was pleasantly surprised to hear James Taylor singing “shower the people you love with love.”

When he wasn’t focusing the long lens of his camera at the musicians and the crowd, he was usually looking to the sky, watching airplanes soar above.

“Sitting here with all this going on, I’m watching airplanes and it’s kind of ridiculous,” the retired pilot said. “There’s a flock of geese.”

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a uniformed serviceman began playing the violin.

“Is that Yo-Yo?” he asked, referring to cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

“No. It’s a Marine,” his wife replied.

Like many of the people gathered on the Mall, the Hydes have never been to an inauguration before.

Dionne Adderley bundled up her three children in coats and matching Obama ski caps and took them to the concert Sunday. The D.C. native wanted her children to see Obama and then witness the change she believes he’ll bring to America. An African-American herself, she feels Obama’s presidency will mean new opportunities for minorities. She was inspired to see people of all ages and races brave temperatures hovering in the 30s to see Obama.

“It helps them to realize opportunities that we didn’t think we had — even though everyone always says you can do anything,” she said, one eye on her kids, one on Melissa Etheridge. “Seeing an African-American become president opens up your opportunities and allows you to dream — and aspire to those dreams. I hope that all will be embedded in the kids.”

Finally, after nearly two hours, the Hydes looked past thousands of people and saw a tiny speck bound up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. As Obama’s image was broadcast on the Jumbotrons, the crowd fell completely silent. People literally held their breath in anticipation.

David Hyde put down his camera. Sally Hyde strained to see.

“As I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between,” the president-elect said.

“It is you — Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.”

Moments later, before Beyonce began the grand finale, the Hydes walked away hand in hand — cold, hungry and grateful for even a back-row seat to history.

Herald writer Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.