A congregation rejoices as history is made

In a small room at the Presbyterian Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa more than two dozen elderly white parishioners gathered Tuesday morning to watch a large flat-screen TV mounted on a wall.

Their excitement, though tempered by age, every now and then filled the room with applause and cheers. One woman pumped her fist to a cadence of “Hooh, hooh, hooh!”

They were happy and even a little giddy, as if delivered a gift they thought was reserved for future generations of Americans.

“I’m just so very grateful that I lived long enough to see this very day,” said Jeanne MacDonald, the associate organist.

Parishioners offered prayers during the special service celebrating the inauguration, the first time such an event had been organized by the church, said Pastor John Cushman.

As CNN showed Barack Obama’s two young daughters make their way to the steps of the the nation’s Capitol, they sang “God Bless America.”

Halfway through the new president’s address, Christine Williams, whose daughter attends the church preschool, hurriedly walked into the small room, carrying her infant daughter in a car seat carrier.

Her child, sleeping at first, soon awoke and filled the room with faint wails of hunger. As President Obama spoke of future generations looking back on today’s challenges, 7-week-old Annie Williams was calmed by her mother’s breast.

“It’s amazing how one person has managed to solidify a nation across religious and racial lines,” said Williams. “I’m very excited about what’s beginning. It’s only got to get better from here.”