Speaking is not usually part of my job — much less public speaking with news cameras pointed at me from every possible angle.

But that afternoon, I was tapped to deliver a brief press conference discussing something I honestly can’t even remember the specifics of now, because my memory is basically consumed by what happened before the talk — and after.

It was a beautiful day with minimal humidity for a change, odd for that time of year in New Orleans. I was alone in a hotel suite, looking down at the bustling courtyard below that stretched between the Spanish colonial-inspired buildings — Spanish buildings even though they call it the French Quarter. I could see various people checking the sound system and the seating. I glanced at my notes for the hundredth time, wishing I could just get... Read More