By AMY GESENHUES
My daughter turned 5 this week. We had a series of parties for her.
The first scheduled celebration was at her school. No presents, just a happy birthday song after lunch and cupcakes we baked with pink icing and sprinkles. Then there was the private family affair that included me, her dad, her little brother and her aunt and uncle. We took her out to eat at the restaurant of her choice and she got to open gifts.
The big finale celebration was an afternoon with four of her best friends at a local museum followed by pizza and birthday cake at CiCi’s.
I explained to her that 5 was a big birthday, “Five year olds get to go to school and they learn how to read. And they sleep in their own beds all through the night every night.”
She was excited about the school thing, but looked a little skeptical with the sleeping in her own bed thing. It was a milestone birthday and cause for celebration and ceremony.
Ceremonies are important. They are the reason we wear robes and flat hats when we graduate and why we spend more on our weddings than on our automobiles. Whether we are turning 5 or 50, ceremonies are meant to mark occasions and our psyches. They are the metaphorical portals that represent momentous entrances and exits in our lives. When we fail to create a ceremony around important events, we lose sight of their significance.
I know someone who is not happy about the amount of money and effort being put toward this week’s presidential inauguration. The argument is that we should not splurge on such an event when our nation’s economy is tanking.
Of course, a large majority of the inauguration costs are funded by donations. There is not a lot being paid by our tax dollars. The estimates of more than $45 million being spent on the inauguration are still staggering regardless of where the money is coming from.
Here’s my question: Has there ever been a more significant occasion to mark in our nation’s presidential election history than this year’s inauguration? Maybe our very first presidential inauguration; but since then, all other historic presidential events have happened proceeding the inaugurations, not because of it.
In 1865, our nation abolished slavery with the 13th amendment to our Constitution. Almost 150 years later, we have witnessed the first African-American president to be elected into office. It’s been a long and difficult journey, but if ever there was a milestone in our history, this is it.
I believe that the price tag for this year’s inauguration is worth every penny even if it isn’t a bargain event. It is time we show the world that we are ready to usher in a more reputable, more noble national reputation. We have matured as a nation and our voting record stands as evidence.
It is also time that we stop deliberating on all that is going poorly — poor being the intended pun — and celebrate a new turn in our history. While the pomp and circumstance may be considered grandiose, the need for ceremony and celebration is exorbitant. This is an occasion to be marked in our collective conscious.
As far as ceremonies go and the metaphorical importance of the celebration, this is the whole shebang when it comes to presidential inaugurations. We won’t have the opportunity to celebrate such a significant event until 2016, when we celebrate Hillary Clinton as our first female president.
Next year, my daughter will be 6 and we will probably limit the number of parties in her honor for her next birthday; maybe one party with everybody instead of a string of parties with different groups.
There’s a chance it will not be a memorable as this year when she got to meet Zac and Wheezie of “Dragon Tales” fame at the museum and then feast on endless plates of pizza.
But, like I told her, 5 is a big birthday. It’s the start of a new time in her life. She’s older now, more mature — a big girl.
I feel the same way about our country and never have I wanted to celebrate it more than I do this week.
Amy Gesenhues is a freelance writer who lives in Floyd County. You can read her daily commentaries at www.AmyWroteIt.Wordpress.comE-mail her directly at amy@amywroteit.com.
