“Ha! War-shing-tone!’, she exclaims in heavily accented English. “Obama! I am so happy for you!”, her dark eyes gleaming from a face creased with age.
While she’d been prepping for a funeral, I’d pulled her aside for questions – this old Swedish church lady well into her sixties. Ten minutes after our questions had been answered, we remained her audience as the conversation spun from scenery to hometowns to her forays in Arizona to Barack’s inauguration. I swallowed her genuine elation with pride.
At the mere mention of his name, her face lit up, literally transforming her into someone twenty years younger.
I’ve heard his long engaging speeches. I’ve heard of his profound cross generational impact, and his propensity to inspire across natural lines of division – age, race, gender, religion. I fully understand what his presidency means to us all.
But not until I met this old church lady nestled in the heart of Stockholm did I fully witness the depth of his inspiration.