Taking aside all else...

...in 1992, when Bill Clinton was running for president, his wife was rumored to be making an appearance at Freeman Park in Bartlett, Tennessee.

This was before the internet, before 24-hour news, and for some reason, my 10-year-old self was in the car with my mom, my brother, and one of the four boys who lived across the street from us.

A local reporter, named Rod Starnes, was at the park when Mom drove through, and my mother, exhibiting the kind of casual self-possession that I long, to this day, to emulate, rolled down her window and yelled, as if she knew him (and her), "Hey, Rod! Is Hillary going to be here?"

Rod didn't know. So we drove around for a while and then went home.

Hillary didn't make an appearance, but Mom's line has been repeated more times than I can count at family gatherings. And now here we are, with Hillary Clinton as the first female nominee of a major political party for President of the United States.

I was at my parents' over the weekend and I found a report I did in the eighth grade that covered all of the presidents. As a 13-year-old, I had earnestly written: "Even though [Bill] Clinton is a Democrat, most other politicians he works with are Republicans. This makes it very hard to get anything accomplished."

Over twenty years later, those words ring so steadfastly true it's almost painful.

The first day of the Democratic National Convention went better than expected yesterday (three words: Michelle fucking Obama), but the road ahead is long and scary and I care, I care even if I try to distance myself emotionally to spare my sanity.

But today I will settle for being happy that my gender has achieved something pretty damned remarkable. Yes we can, girls. Yes. We. Can.