By now you have probably seen, heard and read the many tributes to the late, great singer Aretha Franklin who passed away last week in Detroit. Upon someone's death, particularly someone famous, we are immediately reminded of the many wonderful things that were accomplished in their lifetime. Like me, you probably traveled down memory lane when you heard Aretha's many hits from her extremely successful, six-decades long career.
I was particularly emotional when I watched the video of Aretha's performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards. As the story goes, Aretha was scheduled to perform a song with The Blues Brothers that evening and she was sitting in her designated seat in the audience when the awards ceremony began. The famous Italian operatic tenor, Luciano Pavarotti was supposed to perform at the show but took ill after the late-afternoon dress rehearsal and called from his trailer after the show started to say that he could not possibly perform. Thirty minutes after the start of the awards ceremony, Aretha was asked by the show's producers to perform in place of Luciano. This was not too much to ask of a seasoned veteran like Aretha, right? Wrong! They asked her to perform one of Luciano's hits, not one of her own. Ever the professional, Aretha agreed to sing the emotionally heart-wrenching and incredibly difficult aria "Nessun Dorma", a song which Pavarotti had mastered and made famous. Twenty years later we have the videotape of Aretha's performance which "brought the house down". She was "called to serve" that evening in 1998 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and she famously and graciously answered that call.
Have you ever been asked to do something at the last minute? Did you answer the call?
I had my own "Aretha" moment, coincidentally enough, also in 1998. At the time, I was working full time and was having a particularly busy day at the office. My desk phone rang and I answered the call. It was the Director of Alumni Affairs of my alma mater, the University at Albany, calling to ask me for a favor. She said: "Hi, Maria. Are you still planning to attend Maya Angelou's performance on campus tonight?" I hesitated before I responded because as I said before, I was in the middle of a super-busy, deadline driven day. I said "Yes, I am planning on being there." The Director said "Great, we need you to introduce her." "Introduce whom?" I asked. "Dr. Angelou, of course!" was the response I received. "Introduce her to whom?" was my next question. "To the sold-out audience that will be packed in the SEFCU Arena tonight."
Imagine my surprise...right before I answered that phone call, I was running around my office hoping against all hope that I would be able to get to campus on time for Maya Angelou's performance, and now I was being asked to get there early and go on stage and formally introduce her to the very large crowd. Many thoughts flooded my brain:
How will I manage to get there on time?
What do I tell my boss about the fact that I now need to leave work early?
Why-oh-why-dear-God didn't I wear a different (better!) outfit?
How will I research the esteemed Dr. Angelou's biography so that I can properly introduce her?
Will I have time to get to Macy's and buy a slip because I am pretty sure the skirt I have on will appear see-through when the arena's floodlights are shining through it??!!!......my mind was whirling!
I have never regretted answering the phone that afternoon and saying yes and doing what I had to do to get to Dr. Angelou on time. It was one of the most incredible honors of my life to have met Maya Angelou and an even bigger honor to have had the chance to introduce her. It wasn't easy for me to so quickly have pulled together the highlights of her many accomplishments (remember, this was 1998 - before Wikipedia and before we had Smart Phones in the palms of our hands to be able to instantly Google facts....Google was actually brand new back then and no one really knew what to do with it).
I will never forget how grateful Dr. Angelou was for my remarks about her. She asked to speak with me after her performance so she could personally thank me! What an honor to be in the presence of such an accomplished, brilliant, talented and beautiful woman who was such a literary giant, yet so humble and gracious and kind...suffice to say, it was a night I will long remember and forever cherish.
What if I hadn't answered the phone that day? I could have just let it roll to my secretary. I was so busy that I probably would not have returned the call to the Alumni Director until the next day...which would have been a day too late to have met Maya Angelou. What if I had let all of the stumbling blocks in my brain (not enough time, no slip under my skirt, don't know what to say, 5000+ people in the audience!, etc) prevent me from saying yes? I would have missed the chance of a lifetime.
I have thought about that day many times since then. There are so many times I am tempted to not answer the phone... after all, these days most calls are robo-marketing ones. However, you just never know, the person on the other end of the phone might actually be someone who could change your day, or perhaps even your life.
Twenty years later, I still almost always pick up the phone when it rings. Why? - because in my mind I hear Dr. Maya Angelou's booming voice saying one of the quotes she made famous: "This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before."
If you answer the call, it just might be a wonderful day!
