When we moved to Winston-Salem, as we took in the view of a new community and I saw bumper stickers and coliseums if celebrities lived here? Not that I had plans to stalk them, I was merely sparking conversation. I had lived in Miami where my husband would come or get into the car after filling the tank giddy as a school boy because he had just seen a Dolphin football player. I lived in Utah where once a year the Sundance Festival filled the streets with A-listers. So? who could I come to expect in this community? My sister, at the time, said she couldn’t think of anyone.
Then about a month ago, I received an email from my sister sharing that Maya Angelou lived in Winston.
I wrote back, “Who?”
That night my sister scolded me and said she couldn’t believe I had never heard of Maya Angelou.
I still could say, “I haven’t.”
Then two weeks ago, the kiddos and I went to Barnes & Nobel. We visit the book store often and on this occasional I noticed a vinyl banner hanging from the eave of the store that said on April 13, Maya Angelou would be speaking and doing a book signing as a promotion for her new book Me & Mom & Me.
It was like angels were whispering Maya Angelou’s name in my ear. So? I picked up a copy of the book and late at night, when the work was done and the kiddos were asleep I read a page or two.
That conversation with my sister where she was shocked I had not heard of Maya Angelou played over and over each night as I closed the book. I took English and Literature as electives in high school and I hadn’t read Angelou. All the book my eyes have indulged and this was my first experience with the pen of Angelou. I feel deprived. Almost starved for having missed this delicious meal.
The book, Me & Mom & Me is raw. It is a memoir of Maya Angelou and her mother, Vivian Baxter. It’s a love story of sorts. How a mother who, unprepared for the journey, surrendered Maya and her brother to their grandmother. It’s about unconditional love that grows through forgiveness and honesty. When being black in the south might be problematic, Maya and her brother were packed up and sent to California to live with the mother who had abandoned them a decade earlier.
Tears filled my eyes for the innocence of a child lost. My heart filled with hope as Maya and her mother struggled. My fist shot into the air in victory when the two, opinionated and strong women found mutual understanding. I celebrated at the deliverance of respect and of course I felt joy and gratitude for the love they found in one another.
Perhaps I loved this book because Maya Angelou is candid, yet ordinary. It’s not filled with fluff about tragedy turned celebrity. It is written in simplicity. A mere 200 pages that depict Angelou’s live much like many of the teenagers today–filled with social fears, teenage pregnancy and academics. Not once does it preach or point fingers. It’s simply her story.
I could feel myself as Maya Angelou’s mother, a woman she initially called, “Lady” and wondered if that didn’t truly hurt the woman who had given her life? I understand from the child, Maya’s, point of view how this relationship could destroy or build who she would become and witnessed her mother encouraging her to do amazing things. Which she did.
While it is a memoir, the character of Vivian Baxter seems a character filled with fact and fiction, woven so tightly that we can’t help but love her. My mouth dropped as I read about the actions of a woman who also wears the title Mother. It seems a contrast and formidable relationship. Then, too, I suppose those are the strengths that built love. A love between a mother who had little patience for mothering and her daughter, Maya Angelou.
In spite of Vivian Baxter’s flaws, she taught Maya strength, to be willful to read and that reputation is the most important quality a person has–if you “say it in the closet, be prepared to say it on the city hall steps”.
This book is an easy read with hard lessons learned woven into a story about an ordinary girl who grew up to live an extraordinary life.
Julee is a quirky, dorky, North Carolina Transplant with an appetite to taste the world, meets its desserts and blog about them. When she’s not behind the computer you can find her playing with her family, reading a good book, being a Bon Jovi fangirl and celebrating the little things.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I purchased this book on my own. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”.Julee Morrison