Joy and reverence in Sand City

From Herald columnist Erin Gray at Ol' Factory, Sand City:
It was packed, by 8:30 it was standing room only. The overall feeling was of joy and reverence. There were lot of tears. There was even a lot of respect when George Bush walked out of the White House. There was some hissing at first, but it soon stopped. This wasn't the moment for it.
People were very interested in what Michelle Obama was wearing. They were so happy to see her wear something sparkly. There was a little debate on her green gloves. Everyone was completely charmed by the girls.
I felt a wall of resistance go up when Rick Warren started speaking. I had my head bowed when he recited the Lord's Prayer but I don't think many joined in. It was a stressful moment but respectful at the same time.
Of course, Aretha was just beautiful. We all loved her hat.
People applauded Joe Biden, but it was the warmup act, not the main event. Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlmen, Gabriela Montereo, Anthony McGill performing, it was beautiful, it was a very sacred moment for me and for the room. It was the moment in the room we seemed to realize the seriousness event. It reached us in the way only music can reach people.
The speech was amazing. I was so impressed with the gravity and that he didn't cheerlead. People listened very quietly. Applause broke out from time to time, but not wild applause because the speech was very grave.
When he finished people stood up and applauded wildly. People were hugging strangers. There were tears in people's eyes. We were saying "peace be with you."