My friend, Emerson Stamps, three years ago wrote a letter to his father. At that time, November 2008, Emerson was 85 years old and his father had been dead since 1939.

As he explains, Emerson did not expect either to have his letter read by his father or receive a response from him. Nonetheless, he wanted to share in some way his excitement at an event of November fifth of 2008.

That, of course, was the day when Barack Obama won election. About this event Emerson wrote “I never thought I would see the day when a Black person would be elected President of the United States of America.”

Emerson is black himself, the son of a man who was born in 1865 to parents who, until that year, had been slaves. On June 6, 1944 my friend had landed on Omaha Beach along with the other troops who freed Europe from Nazi oppression.

When, at war’s end he returned home and went to the courthouse to get his discharge papers verified, while still wearing his army uniform, the judge made him give up his seat to a white person.

In his letter, Emerson went on to share with his father more of his feelings about the election. “Papa, we’ve never seen an election like this in any country in the world, where a people can go from the back of the bus to the front seat in the White House.”

He also tells his father about the day when Barack Obama was inaugurated. “Papa, I wanted to attend the inauguration in Washington, but the price of hotels was out of my range.   .  . I watched the inauguration on TV and I shared it with a friend who came from Mississippi and I cried with every word.”

Emerson also was deeply touched by Obama’s first speech as president. “In my mind he spoke for all whose shoulders he stood on to get there, the river of tears and blood they waded through for this day.”

In this often nasty election season, some relief might come from reflecting on the experience of my friend Emerson.