My Morning with Maya Angelou

This morning was a gift.

I could barely speak while in the presence of Maya Angelou. I still can't believe I was in the same room with this remarkable human. I had tears in my eyes about ten minutes into her talk, and they stayed there pretty much all day. Emotion wears one out, but I'm all good now. In the audiobook of "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," Maya reads with the passion of a minister and the articulation of Captain Kirk.

She did the same today. I had forgotten about the way she speaks and it brought back a very powerful memory. The first time I read Caged Bird, I was in college in Wilmington, NC, in my 2nd year. My grandfather passed away that fall and I left school to go home and attend his funeral. I remember being extremely upset, but knowing that I had to drive 4 hours home, I had to keep it together.

Maya Angelou, in the audio version of the book, had a particular slow and melodic way of saying "Deuteronomy" in the section of the book where she discusses the potential wisdom behind memorizing the book of Deuteronomy in the Bible and following its teachings verbatim.

I can still hear her saying it: Deu-Ta-Ro...Nomee.

That was my safe word for the four hours that it took me to drive home, the day after my grandfather died. I repeated it over and over and over and over and over, past each mile marker, past each highway exit, past each town I traveled through.

During the visitation and the funeral, I said the word, in her voice, to keep myself from crying.

The moment she started speaking this morning, her voice triggered Deu-Ta-Ro...Nomee. Which triggered the funeral, which triggered the memories of my grandparents, which sent the tears down my face.

This woman is a powerhouse. I'm in awe of the way she can build me up and tear me down with a single word.

Her message this morning was about being a rainbow for others. I will post a transcript, and hopefully the video when ASCD posts the archive. It is a must see. Her story today was beyond inspiring, it was truth and honesty and brutality and kindness and real. What a living legend. I was so humbled by her words. Her word.

This morning really was a gift. A gift of memories.

Deu-Ta-Ro...Nomee.

Photo by David Cohen (good to see you, David!)