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"Confession: Single motherhood made me a little tough. I tend to let things roll off my back. I reserve tears for things I should be crying about. (Staying in on a Friday night because I don&amp;#x27;t have a sitter or not buying new jeans because I have pre-school tuition to pay ain&amp;#x27;t tear-worthy.) Well, turns out I may have used all of my tears for the year last night at Glamour&amp;#x27;s 2009 Women of the Year awards. What had me choked up? Everything. But the most moving moments for me were the following: Eighty-one-years-young, Maya Angelou (my personal hero) took the stage in a stunning black gown with two escorts on her arms. President Clinton (that&amp;#x27;s right, President Clinton!) helped her take a seat. She said many things, but this remained most powerful for me: &amp;quot;Be as beautiful as you can be, for yourself first, and then to anyone else with enough good sense to see it, too.&amp;quot; As a single mother, I find that nothing is about me first, but Angelou is on to something because JD is where I shine the most. I hope people can see that and if not, oh well! Laura Ling and Euna Lee--with her daughter in tow--accepted their WOTY award. Seeing that little girl on the stage twirling around and hugging her mother&amp;#x27;s leg made me think of my son hugging my leg. What a legacy Euna is leaving for her child. I want to make JD proud first and foremost. I want to do something extraordinary. I learned that Serena Williams wasn&amp;#x27;t always #1 last night. After her sister Yetunde was murdered, combined with several physical injuries, the tennis pro&amp;#x27;s rank dropped into the 100s. Hearing her speak about the climb back to #1 (yes, she did it) made me think of myself and the past two years. I felt like I was in the 100s when I first read the pregnancy test. See, when I got pregnant and decided to keep my baby, a lot of people counted me out--but I never counted myself out and maybe that&amp;#x27;s why two years later Target is calling my book a best-seller. Serena reminded me last night that if you want it, you can have it. NEVER COUNT YOURSELF OUT. ALWAYS GO DOWN SWINGING, BECAUSE I PROMISE IT WILL ENSURE YOU COME BACK UP FOR AIR. Jane Aronson, dubbed the &amp;quot;orphan doctor&amp;quot; reminded me how big the world is and how important it is for us to help each other out. Aronson is the founder of the Worldwide Orphan Foundation. Like she said last night, and so eloquently, she helps children around the world (among many other crucial things) who go to bed without being read a story. I thought of JD and how every night we sit on my bed and read &amp;quot;bedtime books&amp;quot;--how after I read How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? (his latest favorite) he says, &amp;quot;Again, Mama!&amp;quot; and so I read the book again (and again x3 usually). Every child isn&amp;#x27;t so lucky, but because of Aronson and her mission, every child can be that lucky. The proof surrounded her last night. Some of the children she helped presented her with the award. I can keep going and going and going about last night, but instead, I&amp;#x27;ll let you watch the recap. Enjoy! And read more posts from the event: * The 7 Most Inspiring Moments of Glamour&amp;amp;#8217;s 2009 Women of the Year Awards * Best Dressed Celebs on the Women of the Year Red Carpet * Best in Beauty from the 2009 Women of the Year Awards&amp;amp;#8217; Red Carpet * Glamour&amp;amp;#8217;s Women of the Year Awards: What Women Can Accomplish When They Put Themselves First * See all of our 2009 Women of the Year * Watch Maya Angelou, Serena Williams, Marissa Mayer and more on the Today show * Find out how you can help * Enter to win a VIP Women of the Year gift bag! More Ways to Get Glamour You could win $50,000 just for registering for or logging in to Glamour.com! Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;#x27;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters! Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage. Follow us on Twitter. Photos: Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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