I learned to love from Dr. Maya Angelou

Dear friends, 

As the news was breaking about Dr. Maya Angelou’s passing, I was trembling and shaken by immense sadness. God had taken one of the most beautiful earth angels and earth mother back home. Whenever one of our greats leaves us, I feel an enormous void in my heart. All my tears cannot wash away the immeasurable pain I feel in this moment. My heart squeezes so tightly and here I am sobbing uncontrollably. Each time this happens, I ask myself – why? Each time this happens, I realize why – because I really loved.

I think that Dr. Maya Angelou taught the world so many lessons. She spoke about courage; she spoke about tolerance; she spoke about dignity; she spoke about gratitude. Most importantly, she spoke about love. Love holds everything she taught us. I believe when you have courage, you love yourself; when you are grateful, you love what you have; when you are tolerant, you love one another. At the end of the day, I believe that what she really taught us is unconditional love. I believe that she taught us unconditional love for each and everyone on our planet regardless of gender, age, race, or status. She taught that every woman is beautiful. She taught us unconditional love for ourselves no matter who we are and how we look like. She taught us to believe in ourselves. She taught us to strive for the best. At the same time, she taught us to stay humble and say thank you. She taught us to say thank you because she taught us unconditional love for God.

It is that some of this love returned back home with her. That is why I feel this void. God sent us a beautiful angel to spread his love amongst us. She came. She conquered. She fulfilled her mission. I believe that it is now our turn to say thank you. Thank you, Maya, for teaching us. Thank you, Maya, for loving us. Thank you, Maya, for coming to us. I believe that it is now our responsibility to continue to carry on the message of love amongst us no matter who we are.

Dr. Maya Angelou taught me what real love is. I don’t mean romance, as she would say. Real love, unconditional love is I think a form of energy coming straight from God. Dr. Maya Angelou certainly knew how to share it, how to write about it, and how to teach it. So it is my turn to bow in gratitude and say Thank you. Thank you for coming here. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your wisdom. In our memories we keep you close in our hearts and your words of love on our minds. The world needs greats like you. To teach us God’s love. So I say thank you, God, for sharing Maya with us.

Thank you, Oprah Winfrey, Gail King, Michelle Obama, Cicely Tyson and the many others, who speak so highly of her. As you walk in Dr. Maya Angelou’s footsteps to lead us on and show the world the way to love, may you be blessed and loved too. I sure do. May we all be Dr. Maya Angelou’s sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. May we all learn from Dr. Maya Angelou to love. May we speak her name and say thank you.

Thank you, Maya. I love you.

Love, Barbara

Copyright © 2014 Barbara Bullock

Works cited: http://mayaangelou.com/