From mourning to celebration

The most touching story I heard came from a music composer designer, Mohammed Ali, who read about the plans for the Jan. 25 demonstration on Facebook and came to Tahrir Square every day during the 18 days of the revolt.

Last week on the day that Mubarak finally resigned, he was sitting with the mother of Khalid Said, the young man whose brutal murder by secret police in Alexandria sparked the Jan. 25 protests. (A facebook site called "We are all Khalid Said" with pictures of Khalid's battered face drew hundreds of thousands of signatures.)

Said's mother had come to today's celebration, which was also a memorial for the dead, and was invited up to an apartment overlooking the square, where she witnessed the historic announcement of the reservation.

"When you saw the look in her eyes," said Ali, "you knew this was really a victory. She took off her black mourning robe, and wore white for the rest of the day."