A photo posted by molly murphy (@shebelievedandsoshedid) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:45pm PST

I marched today.

I walked next to my mom and dozens of other people who soon became friends, rather than strangers.

We talked. We laughed. We stood together in the cold, sharing stories and swapping names, handing out extra pairs of gloves.

I didn’t wake up this morning expecting to be a part of history. I don’t think any of the people I was with expected anything of the kind either.

But today, today we made history.

They’re reporting that somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 people gathered to march in St. Paul today. If so, that would make it the largest political demonstration of its kind ever recorded in the state of Minnesota.

That’s history right there, baby.

We actually walked near the Minnesota History Center today, and all I could think was that at some point in the future this day would be represented in that building.

I imagine a time when a school field trip will take a class of young kids to the museum where they learn about the day that the country took back its voice. I can’t be sure, but I have to think that there would be videos and photos and probably a display of p*ssy hats worn at the event.

However, surely we can do more than imagine that world.

Today we Facebooked and we Instagramed. We added it to our Snapchat Story. We FaceTimed and we Tweeted.

We savored the moment and we saved the moment, because I think we all had the inkling that this was something—big. It was bigger than just the few hundred people we could see and it was bigger than the eventual thousands we turned into.

We were connected with women and men around the country who were doing the same thing, seeing the same inspiring scenes unfold before them.

We became a united voice today.

We can make this day more than just another day in the annals of history. We have the power to make this day mean something so much more.

If today has shown us anything, I think it is that our collective voice is more powerful than any of us imagined it to be before we woke up this morning.

Today I bore witness to a revolution.

It’s filled with passion and love and deep concern. It was a peaceful event in St. Paul today, but the energy was palpable. I can’t shake the collective feeling of rebirth that I felt in the crowds.

We’ve fallen, each of us, in this political landscape we’ve created.

We’ve fallen to our knees and we’ve wanted to weep. But today we stood up. We stood up and we reached down to help up the person next to us. We reached down to offer a hand, to offer hope and to make our collective voice stronger.

We made history today by choosing to stand up.

I’m honored to be standing where I am, next to each of the other inspired individuals right here with me. I am standing with gratitude for those who stood before me and for those who stand by me now. We have chosen this place to stand and we are stronger together.

“Sometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand.” ~ Hayley Williams

~

Author: Molly Murphy

Image: Author’s Own