A night with Madlenka

In a typical Mike and Dacia uber-goober moment I had a nice little interlude with the former Secretary of State. No, Colin and I didn't have our midnight rendezvous; rather his predecessor and I shared an intimate moment of mistaken identities.

Last night the Tattered Cover Bookstore hosted this rofessor/diplomat/author/all around amazing woman for a book signing of her recent foray into publishing - The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs.

It was Mike who last time Madeleine was in town, so graciously waited in the line to have our copies of her memoirs, Madam Secretary, signed. Now it all came down to me.

Having gotten there fairly early I was happy to find I was only the 15th in line to meet and greet this renowned heroine of modern politics. Before the presentation began each person got a ticket with their number in line and had the choice of personalizing their signature with a name. Since I had two books I asked for Dacia and Michael. The organizer lady dutifully wrote the names down on a sticky note and put it on the inside of one of the books. Then we sat and waited, Madeleine came out and after a bit of a speech and some lively Q&A (Questions & Answers this time), we all excitedly queued (yes, you heard me right, queued) for the big moment.

So all was going well until the moment I reached the signing desk. She asked how I was, I responded with the usual “Fine, thanks. How are you?” and then suddenly felt emboldened! I managed to sputter out, like in some horrific scene of a teenage girl getting a hold of her boy band idol, “Mike and I are DU alumni and we owe so much to you and your father!”

Mad: “He loved that place.”
Dac: “We love it too. We’d like to go back and teach there someday.”

Just when it was starting to get good in the conversation and I could feel an invitation to join her on her next assignment, I realized that she’d signed the one book with the sticky note “To Dacia and Michael, Madeleine Albright”.

Ahhhhhh! No, wait, not right! I was then determined that to save much unnecessary embarrassment I’d keep the doubly dedicated book and have her sign the other one just to Michael, since I know he’s not much one for sharing. But before I could slyly pull off that task the organizer lady realized the mistake and was already handing Madeleine a new copy to sign just my name! Now there were not one or two, but three copies that she’d signed for me, (although I only walked out with two). Having completed my task of getting signatures, more than expected, and feeling much too chatty for my own good I resolutely walked out of there on a cloud of excitement and giddiness with a hefty helping of embarrassment on the side.

Walking as fast as I could without drawing too much attention to myself I made it to my car and immediately dialed Mike’s number. The second after I finished leaving a message and hung up the phone the parking inspectors came down right behind me and I managed to slip away ticket free!

In retrospect (I’ve now had many hours to digest the event, and after an exhaustive philosophical discussion with Darren quite calmed from the excitement) I realize it wasn’t all that big a deal. However, as Mrs. Sparks can attest when she met Bill Clinton at a similar signing, the prospect of meeting a figure only known from a distance can be overwhelming and in some cases freeze a person completely. Had I been so lucky!

And now to end, I will finish with a bit of my own Q&A, Humanities style:

"Ours is a country of abundant resources, momentous accomplishments, and unique capabilities. We have a responsibility to lead, but as we fulfill that obligation we should bear in mind the distinction pointed out by John Adams. Liberty, at least in the sense of free will, is God's gift, not ours; it is also morally neutral. It may be used for any purpose, whether good or ill. Democracy, by contrast, is a human creation; its purpose is to see that liberty is directed into channels that respect the rights of all. As the world’s most powerful democracy, America should help others who desire help to establish and strengthen free institutions. But, in so doing, we should remember that promoting democracy is a policy, not a mission, and policies must be tested on the hard ground of diplomacy, practical politics, and respect for international norms. Our cause will not be helped if we are so sure of our rightness that we forget our propensity, as humans, to make mistakes. Though America may be exceptional, we cannot demand that exceptions be made for us. We are not above the law; nor do we have a national mission to spread Christianity. We have, in short, the right to ask—but never to insist or blithely assume—that God bless America.”*


*Quote read by Madeleine from The Mighty and the Almighty, pg. 32.