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Last night was one of the most memorable of my life, and I'm having a hard time making sense of it all, but I keep coming back to this moment, silly as it may have been:

Walking towards the White House with Emily and Emily, I approached a young black woman talking on her cellphone. She had that perfect combination of features that make a person seem so warm and welcoming: a huge smile, a dance in her step, and big, steady eyes that lock onto yours for a moment longer than you expect. So when she put her hand up for a high five, I pushed it back down and instead wrapped her in a bear hug.

"White people are hugging me!" she yelled into her phone.

Emily came up behind us, and joined our hug. The woman held out her phone long enough for Emily to scream something into it, then pulled it back and said "Mom, that was a WHITE girl!"

That was it. I haven't quite figured out why this moment was so powerful, but I'm pretty sure it was the joy and disbelief in her voice.