Just getting in from a long day at work and I am pooped...coming down with a cold and it was a long day. Long, but worth it and I'll take days like that anytime. Hope your day wasn't too bad!
I woke up this morning and saw that Maya Angelou had passed and was near tears! Obviously, not because we were BFFs, but something in me felt that loss as if we were. I'm going to try to talk about that loss in the best way I know, by talking about my first love.
When I was in second grade one of my cousins sent my mother a book by Donald Goines called "El Dorado Red". It was the story of a pimp and his life , which I gathered from the back of the book. Let me pause for a minute to say that there were no rules in our house for books. My parents never kept me from reading anything and so I read EVERYTHING, including a book about a pimp when I was 8 years old. This book changed my life and set me on a path of learning and questioning.
As soon as I started reading I knew there was a problem. Some of the words made sense and others I had never heard of before. I made due for as long as possible, but eventually I had to stop reading. Too many things were happening in the book and I couldn't keep up. I remember checking my childrens' dictionary for words like prostitution and pimp and being upset because these words didn't even exist! I went to school the next day and used a different dictionary and found them with no issues. I fell in love with words that day, head over heels, heart pounding, full on LOVE. I had unlocked a secret door where every word had a meaning, every meaning had place and there was a word for everything. I hate to admit it, but I think I stole that dictionary that day. I needed it and honestly, that's where my story began.
I used that dictionary to read that book and the next book and many books after that. I fell in love again every time I opened the pages of a book for years after and hopefully years to come.
Books and words provided me with an escape that I still haven't matched. Authors became gift bearers and I yearned for these gifts. I cried when the book sales happened and I couldn't buy any. I guarded my books at home like gems and dared someone to invade my stash.
The first heartbreak I ever experienced was when Bebe.Moore Campbell died. She was the author of "Brothers and Sisters" (another bok sent by the same cousin) and a few more of my favorites. I just remember immediately feeling sick that I'd never read a new word from her. It felt heavy like the loss of an old friend. I'll admit I felt similarly when the Harry Potter series ended, an open mouthed moan to the heavens asking "Why, JK, why?!"
It is no wonder then why I felt like a little bit of my world ended this morning. While I will continue to read and cherish the works of authors who have passed I am saddened at the loss of their voices. Those unique voices that carried words I never knew, stories I never lived and strength I never knew I had will be missed. My love for words has never waned and I doubt it will, but I would be lying to say that my first love hasn't been a journey. Yet, everyday I fall in love again and remember the words of those I have loved most.
May the words you read everyday speak to you so loudly that you can hear them echo in your heart. I hope that whatever your first love was/is still excites you and calls your name in a special way that sings to your caged bird. Enjoy your night and keep loving! #WordsArePower #MyFirstLove
I woke up this morning and saw that Maya Angelou had passed and was near tears! Obviously, not because we were BFFs, but something in me felt that loss as if we were. I'm going to try to talk about that loss in the best way I know, by talking about my first love.
When I was in second grade one of my cousins sent my mother a book by Donald Goines called "El Dorado Red". It was the story of a pimp and his life , which I gathered from the back of the book. Let me pause for a minute to say that there were no rules in our house for books. My parents never kept me from reading anything and so I read EVERYTHING, including a book about a pimp when I was 8 years old. This book changed my life and set me on a path of learning and questioning.
As soon as I started reading I knew there was a problem. Some of the words made sense and others I had never heard of before. I made due for as long as possible, but eventually I had to stop reading. Too many things were happening in the book and I couldn't keep up. I remember checking my childrens' dictionary for words like prostitution and pimp and being upset because these words didn't even exist! I went to school the next day and used a different dictionary and found them with no issues. I fell in love with words that day, head over heels, heart pounding, full on LOVE. I had unlocked a secret door where every word had a meaning, every meaning had place and there was a word for everything. I hate to admit it, but I think I stole that dictionary that day. I needed it and honestly, that's where my story began.
I used that dictionary to read that book and the next book and many books after that. I fell in love again every time I opened the pages of a book for years after and hopefully years to come.
Books and words provided me with an escape that I still haven't matched. Authors became gift bearers and I yearned for these gifts. I cried when the book sales happened and I couldn't buy any. I guarded my books at home like gems and dared someone to invade my stash.
The first heartbreak I ever experienced was when Bebe.Moore Campbell died. She was the author of "Brothers and Sisters" (another bok sent by the same cousin) and a few more of my favorites. I just remember immediately feeling sick that I'd never read a new word from her. It felt heavy like the loss of an old friend. I'll admit I felt similarly when the Harry Potter series ended, an open mouthed moan to the heavens asking "Why, JK, why?!"
It is no wonder then why I felt like a little bit of my world ended this morning. While I will continue to read and cherish the works of authors who have passed I am saddened at the loss of their voices. Those unique voices that carried words I never knew, stories I never lived and strength I never knew I had will be missed. My love for words has never waned and I doubt it will, but I would be lying to say that my first love hasn't been a journey. Yet, everyday I fall in love again and remember the words of those I have loved most.
May the words you read everyday speak to you so loudly that you can hear them echo in your heart. I hope that whatever your first love was/is still excites you and calls your name in a special way that sings to your caged bird. Enjoy your night and keep loving! #WordsArePower #MyFirstLove