An Ode and Tribute

Goo T. Gwaba
Jul 25, 2017 · 6 min read

How do you try to capture all of what someone means to you in a short essay? I don’t have the words that bear enough sufficiency, but I will certainly try.

Today, I want to tell you about someone who has had a profound effect on my life:

Amy Holmes.

This picture has always been one of my favourites. It exemplifies who she is that very few pictures can.

Let me first start with some back story on this extraordinary woman that I am fortunate enough to call my friend.

Amy was born in Lusaka, Zambia on July 25th, 1973. She spent most of her first 17 years in Shoreline, a suburb of Seattle, before moving on to a much wider world. She graduated from Princeton, and eventually moved on to a rewarding career in politics as a writer, a radio host, and contributor in Washington D.C. and New York City. She has made several appearances over the years as a political commentator on every news network imaginable. Last year, she was invited onto Meet the Press for the first time. This was a proud moment for someone in the political sphere, as she has been for 20 years.

I first came to know about Amy from her time at The Blaze as their news anchor. Over her nearly five years there, she accomplished so much. Primarily as the host of the hourly news bulletins (of which, she wrote her own copy), then as the first host of “Real News”, a contributor to “Liberty Treehouse” with Raj Nair, host of her own YouTube presentation “The Hotlist”, and various news specials. Since leaving The Blaze, she now works for Rasmussen as their media spokesperson. She also has been featured on television series, such as “Bull”, “Shots Fired”, and “The Tick” as a news reporter. All this, from a young woman who started from such humble beginnings.

This is a promo from her time on The Hotlist in the old studios for The Blaze. This is where I first learned about Amy, and her wicked sense of humour.

In June 2013, I dipped toe into the pool of Twitter, a very tough place to express a thought. One night in September 2013, I met the person who has taught me so many things about the world, and myself. From that evening onward, my life has never been quite the same.

Amy had been hesitant to join social media, as it can be a tough place for anyone. As a conservative, African-American woman who works in media, especially so. As it stands, before that evening, she had only been on Twitter for about a month. As the saying goes, “Timing is everything.”

Over the next few months and years to come, we have had conversations that ran the gambit: art, classic cinema, music, poetry, politics, sci-fi, and television. Amy is a prolific reader, and has a profound love of all things literature. She is woman of many layers, and will always surprise you. She has reminded me of, and taught me many things. That there is far more to life than politics. To treat everyone as your equal, no matter their station. To live as though life is a buffet, and to never allow yourself to starve. To embrace every moment as if it were your last. These are the gifts that she has given to me.

Through many years now, we have created a friendship that I consider quite unique. For me, it is like none I have ever known. As we share a hometown, we have a common heritage, a shared vernacular, and cultural context that the majority of people she has gotten to know over the years do not have. She has met people from all over the world, and yet, she seems to find some part of me to be an interesting one. I still am at a loss to explain why. In her words, it is because “You are kind.”

The best thing about our friendship is that because we are close, there is always a playful banter. I tease her about her early crushes on Duran Duran (of which I saw here in Washington on her recommend), her love of all things George Michael, her adoration for Idris Elba, and meanwhile, she keeps goading me into traveling more to seeing what there is to see in the world. She has supported my endeavours to speak my mind about current events in my own small sphere, and I have even influenced her to think and rethink about her own views. We share a deep love of music, and always exchange songs that we adore. One of our mutual favourites is that of the legendary Peabo Bryson. Being able to “introduce” them to each other on Twitter was a fun memory I have. We know each other well, and that is such a gift.

Amy has gone through her own ups and downs, both in her professional and personal life, as we all have. The difference with her situation is that her professional life is played out in full view of the public, as a person of some notoriety. I have always kept her private life in confidence, and I have always tried to be her sounding board. For me, this is what friendship is. Two people, coming from different backgrounds, walking the road of life together, lending strength to one another in times of hardship. I treat her as I would anyone else…with empathy and kindness. No barriers and no walls. She has always related to me on that same level, tearing down that false wall of “fame”, and replacing it with companionship, fidelity, loyalty, and trust.

When my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in May 2015, she was there, and comforted me from afar. Over the next year, she reached out to my family, lending her support in the best way she knew how; by her beautiful and eloquent words. Before he passed, she sent a final letter to let him know that she was sending her hopes and prayers our way. I don’t know what I would have done without her support during that painful year. I don’t know if I would have made it through. I am grateful everyday for her, and I will never forget what she has done.

In March of this year, I was able to travel to New York for my vacation. Two important items were on my agenda. One, to climb the Statue of Liberty to the crown in honour of my father. Two, to meet this friend of mine that has changed my life in so many ways over the years. On one day and one evening, I had the opportunity to do both. I was able to express my gratitude, not only for her friendship, but all that she has done for my family. Words continue to fail me.

Amy Holmes has been a lighthouse to me in darkness, helping me to avoid the rocks strewn about the shoreline of my life. No one could ask for a better friend in these times of uncertainty. If it were not for that chance meeting on Twitter nearly 4 years hence, my life would be far different, and certainly less exciting. I can say this from the very bottom of my heart: I am a far better man because of her.

As Tennyson once mused:

“As when with downcast eyes we muse and brood,
And ebb into a former life, or seem
To lapse far back in some confused dream
To states of mystical similitude,
If one but speaks or hems or stirs his chair,
Ever the wonder waxeth more and more,
So that we say, ‘All this hath been before,
All this hath been, I know not when or where;’
So, friend, when first I look’d upon your face,
Our thought gave answer each to each, so true–
Opposed mirrors each reflecting each–
That, tho’ I knew not in what time or place,
Methought that I had often met with you,
And either lived in either’s heart and speech.”

Happy Birthday, Amy! Another year gone, and another ahead. I look forward to the journey, and our continued companionship. On a wing and a prayer…

Believe it or Not…I am walking on air. Amy does that to people. So much more than people will ever know.

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