Election Eve is here!

Now I truly remember what Christmas Eve used to feel like as a kid. Even when I had sneaked a peek at the gifts my parents had bought me, there was still a visceral thrill of unwrapping them and knowing what I had received.

So even though fivethirtyeight.com tells me that Barack Obama wins in 98.1% of their election simulations, like any good Democrat who has been going out of her mind with anticipation and excitement for weeks now, I'll believe the win when the votes are good and counted.

This feels like such a major turn of the page of history--unprecedented in my personal experience. Eight years of my adult life have never felt as long as 2000-2008. Many wonderful things have happened for me personally and professionally, but it's been such a disaster on a political level. And for my daughter, who is now such a curious and involved citizen, it seems unbelievable that she's lived under a Bush administration for her entire conscious memory. She wants change as much as most adults I know.

So tonight is a true threshold. While the results may appear obvious in retrospect, it's worth savoring this moment--one of those truly suspenseful days in which all the pundits in the world can't predict exactly what will happen. We are present at the creation of history.

The sad side of this story is of course the fact that Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died one day before the election. Barack was wise to make it a priority to visit her last week, and I am sure she'll be with him in spirit.