"Now I Can Tell My Grandson that the Sky is the Limit... And There's Finally Living Proof."

Last night, thanks to my favorite Governor, I was given the opportunity to attend Barack Obama's acceptance speech.

The mile-long line to enter Mile High stadium provided me with two hours to admire in the mind-blowing coordination that went into the event. Thousands of paid folks and volunteers flawlessly managed a one-of-kind experience. The organizers had exactly (only) eight weeks to move the event from a secure, routine arena environment to a massive, unsecured football stadium. The result was an unbelievable performance on the part of thousands of workers with differing objectives. It restored my dwindling faith in cooperation. I've worked in soup kitchens where the same volunteer spaghetti delivery is practiced nightly by four volunteers with much, much more drama and confusion. The DNC volunteers and organizers worked as if the acceptance speech was a daily process managed by professionals who also happened to be best friends. Slick.

I was sure that while Barack's speech would be mind-blowing, nothing would jolt me as much as the beautiful, civic, cooperation that was on display.

Going in, I was well aware that yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the "I have a Dream" speech. I knew that. In fact, I watched MLK's speech on YouTube beforehand, so that I could identify the points at which Obama sampled themes and words. Even with this in mind, I felt as if I was there to cheer for Obama - like a self-respecting, professional Bronco fan.

But this plan was interrupted by an older black gentleman in my row who needed to exit often. "Sorry, my friend," he said on his third trip out. "Old guys like me have to go to the bathroom A LOT. But that's no bother at all on a day like this, because this is the greatest day!" Then, he dropped his head, looked over his dark glasses, adjusted his yellow tie, pointed to the vacant lectern and said, "Because now I can tell my grandson that the sky is the limit... and there's finally living proof. I'm about to see living proof, finally."

As I looked into the eyes of folks at the stadium, it was clear that this was what was really going on. So, I learned. So I soaked it in.