If you are my dad's age, you remember where you were they announced that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

If you are over the age of say 50, you know exactly where you were when you heard that President Kennedy had been shot. Me, I remember quite well where I was when a radio announcer told us that John Lennon was shot. These are watershed moments that marked our childhoods.

Then there are the highs, too. I was working at KIRO Radio in my twenties when Baby Jessica fell down the well in Texas. I vividly recall all of my cynical colleagues gazing up at the three television screens on the wall, and how we all had to force ourselves to stop watching this extraordinary feat of bravery.

I am sure some of you recall seeing Martin Luther King give one of his speeches, or JFK becoming President.

But really, how often in the course of recent history, have we been so inspired, so moved, and so affected as a people, as we have been by Barack Obama?

People who long stopped hoping for something to believe in magically believe all over again. Young people who never quite got the reason to vote stood in the rain waiting for that chance. And all of us knew, as we watched this campaign, that we were seeing history.

My favorite story involves a buddy of mine, Kelly Sullivan. Kelly is in 8th grade at McMurray Middle School on Vashon Island, and he was among a group of kids and parents that all celebrated together on election night.

Kelly told his mom that all too often the kids at his school half-heartedly pay attention to the Pledge of Allegiance. Each day, as the school is asked to stand, many of them don't. Those that do manage to stand, mumble the pledge half-heartedly.

But Kelly said that the day after the election, when the principal announced it was time for the Pledge of Allegiance, most of the kids sprang up from their seats. After eight years of rolling their eyes when they hear about their President's latest decisions, these kids were inspired to believe in something.

I am not so naive as to think that everyone feels this way. Of course, Obama won the Electoral College in a landslide, but he didn't sweep to a landslide in the popular vote, winning 53 percent.

I realize we still have a deeply divided country, and there are plenty of people out there who are not swept up in victory this November.

But those who did not support Obama need to take heed from what he said in his marvelous speech on election night. "Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

"As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President, too."

This is a man, if ever there was one, who does not bear ill will towards others. He fought hard to get where he is, and he admires struggle and hard work in others. He has known unfair treatment, and will not treat others unfairly.

He has been an underdog who values those who aren't in power. And, he is a guy has radiated kindness and decency since the beginning of his historic campaign.

I believe him when he says it is time for us to put down our pettiness of the past. I believe our country is tired after the last eight years of fighting. And let's be honest, hasn't it been longer than that?

When did we become a nation of talk radio and shock jocks and angry Web sites and dirty campaigns? When did that become what America is?

And make no mistake, those that gave their lives for America -- from veterans at Pearl Harbor to RFK in Los Angeles -- deserve better than all of this anger.

Maybe it is time to heal and move on. We surely will not be able to overcome our struggles and our economic challenge ahead unless we are working together.

After all, human beings are complex. It is too simple to be a Democrat who cannot abide Republicans, and too simple to be a Republican who cannot abide Democrats. I am a Democrat, but have very close Republican friends. I like to think there is a place for all of us in the Obama world. In the end, coming together and surviving this tough time will mean abandoning old concepts like partisan politics, and embracing new notions like teamwork.

It reminds me of this old parable, which I have used in many speeches I have penned over the years. It speaks to the power of viewing things positively, and of reaching as high as we can by seeing the value of a team.

A traveler came upon a group of three hard-at-work stonemasons, and asked each in turn what he was doing. The first said, "I am sanding down this block of marble." The second said, "I am preparing a foundation." The third said, "I am building a cathedral."

I like to think of this new America as a cathedral -- one that will welcome many people in its doors, of many shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds.

Working together, we can really build high into the sky.

Lauri Hennessey organized "Barack the Vote", an Obama rally on Vashon during the campaign, and is a frequent fundraiser and political organizer.