So here I sit, a few days after arguably the most historic mandate in our times was made: the landslide victory of Barack Obama, elected as our 44th president. I think back to what a long, strange trip it’s been indeed: Mr. Obama announcing his candidacy in Illinois so long ago, a place we lived for 10 years before coming to the East to raise our family; the primaries where I took both my daughters ages 10 and 5 to vote with me (for Hillary, I might add); and all the excitement leading up to last Tuesday.

I like to think of myself as a reasonable adult, in a creative and fulfilling career, raising my daughters with the love of my life and best friend, lucky and sane on lots of counts. But the ferocity with which I threw myself into electing Barack Obama was shocking.

These last months I should have done so many other things — laundry mainly — but any slice of time I could deem free, I was in front of the computer checking up on my reliable websites like Huffington Post, Politico, CNN among others to see what was up in the election that day.

More smears? A new outrageous claim by the Republicans that Barack might actually be Osama Bin Laden? The latest take from Sarah Palin about what constitutes a real American? Some of what I could find was ridiculous, some of it thought-provoking… but baby, all of it highly addictive.

I could not get enough of this election! I read every paper, listened to NPR religiously, even watched Fox News to see what they thought–I’m nothing if not fair and balanced! Long after people in line at the Market Basket were sighing exhaustedly and saying they couldn’t wait for it all to be over with, I had to admit silently to myself that I couldn’t wait to get home and see if the red and blue map on my Yahoo election dashboard had changed in any way.

My “safe” friends were the ones to whom I could say Obama’s exactly what we need now. My tennis team was another matter altogether, so I just didn’t go there. But all of these spirited exchanges led me to volunteer for the Obama Campaign, an experience I’ll never forget. I called from my home, armed with a list of “undecideds” in North Carolina (friendly, well-mannered), Pennsylvania (slightly grumpy, enthusiastic when you called the like-minded), Ohio (hardly ever home) and Colorado (wary, yet standoffishly polite.)

My 10-year old got in on the action after she informed me she’s great with old people. It became a family affair and very inspiring to see my girl get so excited and into the issues. By the end of it all she could hold her own in debates with her McCain-leaning friends. It made me think back to my own girlhood election years. I tried to talk to my parents about what I was hearing–(”What’s a watergate, Mom?”) but was told by my parents not to worry about it, it’s just politics. Go outside.

So here I am now, a newly discovered person who has loved this feeling of being directly involved with a movement so historical, so enriching and larger than life.

But now what do I do? Go back to work? Really? Grow my business? I worry about my assimilation back into modern society. How will I get that same awesome feeling when I had called an Undecided and felt the kinship with that stranger, sharing our excitement about Barack’s sure and hopeful victory?

I haven’t been this inspired since meeting my husband all those years ago, having my girls and making a great life here in Massachusetts. I almost want to thank Bush and the Republicans for screwing this country up so horribly: it makes this victory, and the hope that it isn’t too late, so sweet.

I think back to that awful country song that baseball stadiums around the 4th of July seem to love so much. Before this experience it was fun to sing along in an affected country twang, watching early fireworks go off. But now I will sing it with a different feeling in my heart and I’ll sing it without any hint of mocking irony:

“There ain’t no doubt I love this plaaace! God Bless the USA!”

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Jen DelMonaco, mother of two, owns The Bride Beautiful.