MANILA, Philippines - Hope is a truly powerful thing.

So powerful that it helped propel Barack Obama into the White House. What was it about him that has moved and inspired many other 40-somethings like me to follow his campaign so closely and root for him from far away?

For once, here is a man who speaks from the heart and the depths of his soul. Someone who can really connect with what this generation needs. He makes all things seem possible.

How does one grow up to be a Barack Obama? From reports we find one very strong influence?his unconventional and free-spirited but extraordinary mother who loved him unconditionally. The story of Barack, raised by a single parent and supportive grandparents, gives hope to parents who raise children on their own. Obama has often been quoted about his mother, ?I know that she was the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known, and that what is best in me, I owe to her.?

Ann Dunham seems to have done quite an exceptional job with her only son.

In his book, ?Obama: From Promise to Power,? Chicago Tribune writer David Mendell who has followed Obama?s career for the last five years, says that Obama described his mother?s parenting style as one that was very warm and to a certain degree, hands-on. ?She was one of these parents, who, you know, was the opposite of remote, was always very present and would be your biggest cheerleader and your best friend and had sort of complete confidence in the fact that you were special in some fashion. And so as a consequence, there was no shortage of self-esteem.?

Obama has said that it was his mother?s extreme idealism?her continued ability to see the good in people?that he most admired in her. Perhaps, it is also the trait that many people (jaded ones included) now find attractive in him?the overriding message of many of his speeches??of how all of us are bound together as one, and that if we are to prosper as a country, and indeed, as a species, we must focus on the good we see in others .?

Love of his life

Meanwhile, his rock and the love of his life, Michelle, has often been referred to as the one who keeps it ?real? for himself and for their two children?Sasha and Malia.

When asked by a Newsweek reporter how she would keep it real in the White House, she spoke of talking to Hillary Clinton whom she describes as ?a wonderful resource.? Michelle Obama, a bright and successful woman in her own right, says, ?Our hope is that we do some of what we?ve been doing for the last year and a half. That we really treat our family life as separate as you can, that we keep the girls? lives very set apart from this whole experience.?

Concerned about how the two girls would adjust in the White House, Michelle hopes that her mother would come along and live with them. Something I thought to be very endearing and very Pinoy. She says in the same interview, ?The girls are going to need her as part of their sense of stability. And what is true for my mom is that she does anything for us and her grandkids. All they have to do is look at her with sad eyes and she?s done for.?

And clearly, though she is cognizant of the huge responsibility that lies ahead for her husband, she?s also very certain about the ways by which he wishes to see Barack involved in the lives of their children. ?He has to continue to make them a priority even as he?s the leader of the free world. I think that?s an important thing for him to model for others. It?s this notion that if he can do it, then we all have to really fight for it.? Positive role-modeling clearly runs deep in the Obama gene pool.

Bibliotherapy

Hope and change were the buzzwords of the entire Obama campaign. The other day, while discussing the president-elect?s positive traits, my daughter Pia read to me from a very inspiring book . ?Be The Change: Your Guide To Freeing Slaves and Changing the World,? written by 15-year-old Zach Hunter, an abolitionist and activist who spends much of his time ending slavery in the world.

Last year, he spoke to almost a half a million people and is educating and inspiring students everywhere to make a change in the world. He also founded Loose Change to Loosen Chains, a student-run effort to help raise money to free slaves. Yes, slavery still does exist today and it presents itself in many forms. Read this book with your children and together find out what you can do in your own community to make this corner of the world a better place to live in.

E-mail the author at cathybabao@gmail.com