WASHINGTON -- Melissa Van Herksen, a Miami native now living in Maputo, Mozambique, braved a 40-hour trip with a 21-month-old to attend Barack Obama's inauguration.

She wanted Luka, the Mozambique toddler she and her husband adopted in November 2007, to witness history.

''In my lifetime, this will be one of those defining moments in the history of our country,'' she said, cuddling Luka, who wore a Barack Obama T-shirt. ``And I wanted Luka to be a witness. Obama right now has shattered all those high glass ceilings for him.''

The trip was daunting, but Van Herksen, 33, was loving every minute: She flew first to Miami to visit family and then flew up to Philadelphia and drove to Washington for the inauguration. Her husband couldn't make the trip to Washington -- duty calls, he's in Mozambique with Holland's Foreign Service -- but she and Luka came up with her sister, Monica Vigues-Pitan, brother-in-law Oluwole Pitan and nephew, Maxwell, 2.

Monica reserved a hotel room for the event in January 2008 -- and has called repeatedly since Obama won in November to make sure it had been given away.

''During the primaries I was so excited I thought we needed to be here,'' said Vigues-Pitan, 30, a senior attorney with Legal Services of Greater Miami.

Both women have been active campaigners before: Van Herksen's first campaign was for Katy Sorenson's run for the Miami-Dade County Commission and she used Skype from Mozambique to call Florida voters and urge them to vote for Obama. She voted for him absentee, and prodded her American friends in Maputo to do the same.

She wrote to members of Congress before the election, hoping to score a coveted ticket to the swearing-in ceremony. ''I even e-mailed Oprah,'' she said.

Two days before they left for Washington, they learned Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart's office had secured them two tickets. They drew straws Monday night to determine which two adults get to go: the sisters. (Though Melissa actually drew the shortest straw, she had come the farthest and sisterly and brother-in-lawly love carried the day.) That means Pitan was to watch the events on TV -- with two rambunctious toddlers, Maxwell and Luka, who has taken to kissing the television during Obama's appearances.

''We were going to come up anyhow, even without the tickets,'' said Van Herksen, whose visit so far included the Sunday concert at the National Mall, picture-taking in front of the White House and a reception for Floridians at the Library of Congress. ``Luka will have such a story to tell.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@