An evening with Maya Angelou

Tonight was absolutely perfect. My friend Julie came up, and I think she was even more excited to meet her than I was.
We got to the forum and Julie says, hang on, before you get out of the car, I have something for you- I said, it's not going to make me cry is it?? She said I hope not! It is called a "journey bracelet" and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's got a heart-shaped charm about the size of a locket, and in the charm, there's four diamonds, one each for Me, Doug, Natalya and Margaret. She had the letter "M" engraved on the charm, she said "It's for Mother, Margaret and Maya". She said she didn't want me to thank her because she felt like she had to get it for me, that I was somehow supposed to have it and it just came to me through her.

Not cry. HA! I will try to take a pic and post it a bit later.

Then we got in and after some time, we went back to the VIP area and then Dr. Angelou came in. We all introduced ourselves, and the newspaper photographer was allowed to take photos of each of us shaking her hand. We are going to get copies of the photos. When I was doing the radio interview, I was asked what questions I wanted to ask her. I told the reporter that I didn't have any questions for her because she has already told us everything. Her life is an open book, literally. I just wanted to thank her. She is such an inspiration and I wanted to thank her for everything she has given, and continues to give. So I did that exactly. It was very surreal. We were also given copies of her book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the hardback. In it, she signed
"Brandy Kincaid
Joy
Maya Angelou"

Totally priceless.

The whole thing was amazing. I had forgotten what an inspiration she truly is, her words, her voice, her presence. She is an amazing woman and I am honored to have met her.

At one point during her "talk" I did start crying. Julie passed me a tissue and the woman in front of me, who had read my piece, reached back and held my hand. After the presentation (or whatever you call it) was done, she gave me a big hug. It was very sweet.

I just cannot believe what a wise woman Dr. Angelou truly is, and how simply awed I am to have been in her presence, and horrified that the world almost didn't get to experience her.

The ironic thing is, this has inspired me to start writing again. Ironic since writing a winning essay is what got me there to begin with.