It was at the University of Chicago where I first met Gwendolyn Brooks, the famous poet whose book I had read in high school.
What I learned that night, May 5, 1996, will stick with me for the rest of my life.
I learned that Ms. Brooks was a giving person. Her poems were her way of giving back to the world what she had.
I learned that in giving you also receive, and I also learned that there is a time for taking.
I found Ms. Brooks to be a down-to-earth person who just happened to be a famous poet.
Her manner was that of a woman who had lived a life with ups and downs, and her writing reflected her experiences.
She was a very warm woman, but she would give you a piece of her mind if you pushed her the wrong way.
On the bus ride home that night, I thought about all the children she had helped over the years.
She had been doing this all her life with her poetry, and just by being herself.
There’s a time for giving and a time for taking, but giving back is better than just taking. I learned that from Ms. Brooks. I thought about her on that bus ride home, and I thought about her saying I reminded her of her son.
I will miss her.
