It’s hard to imagine that eight and a half years ago on the night of August 28, 2008 I was camping on Lower Betty Brook Road in Blenheim. I tuned into Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention, sitting next to the campfire, enjoying a cold one. I liked the man, he gave a good speech and ultimately ended up voting for him in both 2008 and 2012.

Eight and a half years later tonight, I am watching Barack Obama’s Farewell address on this cold winters evening on my monitor hooked to my HDMI box. I still live in the same place and work the same job and while much has remained constant, other things have changed. 

When I first heard Obama speak, I was only a year and a half out of college then, now I have many gray spots on my hair. I’ve grown older moved up in my company, learned a great deal more knowledge in recent years. But it seems like the eight and half years have gone by much too quickly. Assuming that Donald Trump is re-elected in 2020, I’ll be forty two by the time he leaves Washington. 

I’m going to miss President Obama. The changes that took place during his eight years were most of my life post college. So much has changed in the intervening years, a scary recession and recovery, a health care law, the taking out of Bin Laden, shootings, and Black Lives Matter. Many smaller actions like the Clean Power Plan and the fuel efficiency standards have helped to get our country on track addressing climate change. 

Whatever you may think of Donald Trump, his era will be short much like the brief years of Barack Obama. His time will come and go quickly. Like Obama, he’ll get a chance to make his mark on our democracy and then in a few brief moments it will be a new era in our country’s long history. I’m sure Donald Trump will do some good in his brief moment as chief executive for his period in our democracy. 

I will miss Barack Obama. It was a good era but now time will be move forward and we will continue to build a better country for all.