"The platter does not diminish. The jobs, the requirements, the requests continue to pile up. But I do know this: we are equal to the mountains that confront us."
So wrote Maya Angelou in a Facebook post during 2010.
As usual, her writing hit me right between the eyes. If anyone knows about the requirements and requests that pile up, she would. But she also knew that, with God's help, we were equal to the task.
God was just braggin' when God created Maya Angelou. So many times she has given me perspective in my life, mainly through reading her books and her poetry. I guess that's one way to tell that she was a "citizen of the world" - so many of us thought of her as our good friend, our favorite aunt or grandmother, someone whose wisdom was always reliable and true.
I got to see her one time. She was coming to Salt Lake City for a book signing when we lived in Provo. I was just beside myself with excitement. I'd bought 10 copies of her latest book, hoping to get 10 autographs for loved ones. And just to breathe the same air as Maya Angelou - well, the autographs would come in second.
There were hundreds of us at the bookstore that morning, forming an orderly line outside the door, eager to get in. We were also told that she would only be able to sign one book per customer. So those of us who had brought several began weighing the difficult decision of choosing one book to be signed. Once we got inside, we waited and watched the curtained platform they had set up for her to speak. Shortly, however, we got the word - Maya was ill and could not be with us. We were crushed!
But as we castfallen were preparing to leave, sure enough, Maya came out to talk briefly to the crowd. Dressed elegantly as always, she apologized profusely for being too ill to stay. We could tell that her voice was hoarse and not strong. Even so, she said that she wanted to make it up to us. To strangers that would have understood, even if they didn't like the news, she said: "They will give you my address. If you will mail me your books, as many as you like, I will sign all of them." And then she went back behind the platform curtain.
I saw her for about three minutes. And I was changed. I was changed by her generosity and her integrity and her consideration of strangers, for heaven's sake, even when she herself was ill. Of course, I got her Wake Forest address from the bookstore, and mailed off my books. To tell the truth, imagining her office being swamped with packages from Utah, I wondered if I'd ever see them again. But sure enough, in the fullness of time, here came a package from Wake Forest, North Carolina, to Provo, Utah, with ten signed books inside.
Honestly, she had me at hello. But I have been hers ever since. And I pray that, through speaking her name, sharing her story, sharing MY story, and doing all that I can to empower and encourage women and men of all stripes, her spirit will continue to live.
