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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It's time again for StoryCorps. This week, we have a visit with the widow of comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory. After his death in 2017, Lillian Gregory developed Alzheimer's. Two of their 10 children, Ayanna and Paula, sat down with their mom to help her remember her life.
AYANNA GREGORY: Mom, what was the thing that you called Dad, the nickname you had?
LILLIAN GREGORY: Oh, yeah, I know that nickname. My damn fine cat. Come on now.
(LAUGHTER)
L GREGORY: MDFC, right?
A GREGORY: Yes.
L GREGORY: Oh, God. And how did I meet him?
PAULA CENAC: It was in Chicago.
L GREGORY: OK, right, 'cause he was a comedian.
A GREGORY: Yes, indeed.
L GREGORY: (Laughter).
A GREGORY: Can I say something, Mama?
L GREGORY: Yeah.
A GREGORY: You did not know that Dad was going to move so deeply into the Civil Rights Movement. But the beauty is that you said, wherever you go, I'm going with you.
L GREGORY: OK.
CENAC: You were arrested many times. And once you were arrested pregnant with twins.
L GREGORY: Was I? You and Pam?
CENAC: Mm-hmm.
A GREGORY: You stayed in jail for nearly two weeks.
CENAC: Also, you always say that you can't believe how much Dad relied on you.
L GREGORY: Right. Because anybody ask him about anything, he would say, call Lil. That was just part of my life, and I loved every minute of it.
CENAC: One of my favorite memories of what I call growing up Gregory was I came home from college in 1987, but I was pregnant with Shayla. So I knew I had to tell you and Dad. I remember telling you first, and you were like, oh, my God, how did that happen?
L GREGORY: (Laughter) Oh, gosh. I actually said that?
CENAC: Yes. So you were kind of a wreck.
L GREGORY: (Laughter).
CENAC: Then you were like, oh, gosh, you have to tell your father. So I said, Dad, I'm pregnant. And he was like, shoot, that's all you had to tell me?
L GREGORY: (Laughter).
CENAC: Just don't bring any cats up in this house, because he knew you were afraid of cats.
L GREGORY: Oh, heavily, heavily afraid of cats. Something about that meow.
CENAC: (Laughter) Yep. Looking back, Dad was just so cool in his way of showing how much he loved us.
L GREGORY: Sometimes I think about Dad, and I just want to boo-hoo with happiness. I miss him dearly, dearly, but I just know he's in God's hands.
CENAC: I remember looking at Dad - this is maybe an hour before he died - and Dad can do this wink that only he can do.
L GREGORY: Only he could do.
CENAC: And it just said to me, hey, the show might be over, but I'm not.
L GREGORY: But I'm not. Oh, what a precious memory. Sometimes I wake up at night, and I will think about my life. And, you know, the first thing I do is put my hands together and say, thank you, Heavenly Father, for my life, my children, my husband, and that's all I see in it. Overall, I would not give anything for it. Just not anything, really.
MARTIN: Lillian Gregory, Paula Cenac and Ayanna Gregory. Their interview is part of the StoryCorps Brightness in Black project at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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