My life was touched and made forever richer by Dr. Angelou's sharing of her talent, her gifts, her activism, and her teaching with the world.

 

I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings the first time at 12 years old. Although I didn't really understand the story's true impact until years later, it moved me In a way I couldn't explain then and would still struggle to articulate fully decades later.  I had the honor and privilege of being in the same room with Dr. Angelou when she visited my college when I was 19 years old. Although she didn't speak to me directly or personally, I was in awe to be able to listen to her words and breathe the same air as she was that day.  A moment in my life that I remembered with tears in my eyes when I woke up this morning to read of her passing.  

 

Whenever I'm feeling like I'm not quite enough, I hear her iconic poem, Phenomenal Woman (recited in her voice in my head, of course...)

I'm a woman

Phenomenally. 

Phenomenal woman,

That's me. 

May she rest in peace and love. The world is truly a better place for having had her in it.