I admit that I was worried about this election. So many ways for it to go so wrong. So much at stake. So long we’ve been hearing about it. I felt worn down by it all and stressed. And I didn’t really want to be worried in public, even among friends, even after a massive infusion of sugar. Which did not make me good company when I found myself hanging out at a bar watching election returns.

But if I’d stayed home, I would have missed out on being part of this:

The impromptu crowd at Lafayette Park, just north of the White House, on Election Night, shortly after President Obama clinched a second term.

Four years ago, we were in a car, heading home after Barack Obama won the presidency, when we found ourselves caught up among revelers heading toward the White House.

This year we got off the bus by the White House and became revelers ourselves, four (Rudi, John, Nicole, and me) among hundreds of jubilant voters.

It was a good night.