Millie Delaney doesn’t know where she’ll be today when President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath of office.

Hotel room in Maryland or on the Mall in Washington, the place depends on how this Selma Friend of Obama feels.

But no matter where Delaney stands, she’ll have with her a friend of many years, Candice Gamache. They look forward to a future and a better country together — one that sees a young man with a family in the White House again; a return to values of hard work and less class differences; a community of this nation rather than communities in conflict all over the nation.

“I’m hoping he returns everyone to the basics — going back to the foundations this country stands for,” said Gamache.

Delany is black. Gamache is white. The two women feel joined by Obama’s bi-racial ethnicity, which they believe will help bring people together all over the country.

So, today, when Obama takes office, Delaney and Gamache will shed tears of joy, side by side — friends — celebrating the differences and sameness that brought them together.

“I love her,” Gamache said of Delaney.