Walking

My mother loves Oprah.  I wandered into her room and of course she was watching OWN.  Maya Angelou was on the screen.  It was her Master Class.  When she was a young girl, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend.  The rapist was sent to prison for one day and was later found kicked to death.  After the police informed her family that the man was dead, she stopped speaking, believing that her voice had killed him.  A neighbor, Mrs. Flowers, told her that she would never love poetry until she let it flow from her mouth, until she spoke.  She went into a crawlspace, recited a poem, found her voice, and hasn't stopped speaking since!  This woman can speak six languages!  

My dad told me that it took me forever to walk.  I was nearing the age of three before I finally took the plunge.  (I maintain that this was the first indication that I would be a late bloomer lol.)  My dad went on to say that I did eventually start walking, and haven't stopped moving since.  HA! 

We all know that Dr. Angelou is a teacher.  She speaks and writes wisdom.  Her poems come straight from the heart.  Her voice is loud and clear, and given her legacy, will forever be present.  Well if my childhood immobility is similar to Maya's period of muteness, what does that mean for my future?  What will my walk look like?


Dr. Angelou tells that during her six years of not speaking, her grandmother would comb her hair and say "Sister, Mama don't care what these people say, that you're an idiot, a moron because you can't talk. Mama know when you and the good Lord get ready, you gon' be a teacher.  Sister you gon' teach all over this world."  I love this!  I like to imagine that during my years of immobility God was saying to me, "Elise, I don't care what everybody else thinks about you.  They may think that you're a lazy child who does not want to walk.  Maybe they think you never will.  But you know what I know?  I know that eventually you are going to take your gifts and talents all across the globe.  You will travel to all of the cities I have placed on this Earth in order to share my message of love and hope with everyone you encounter.  Get in your starting position.  Get ready.  Stand tall and go one step at a time.  I am with you." 

:)