Our podcast today is about Mother Teresa. It took place when President Reagan awarded her the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a civilian can receive in this country, it was well deserved. I filmed it at one beautiful ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. 

During lunch time, I was astounded to see her walk up to me and she held me by my arm and said, “Can you tell me how to get out of this place?”,  and I said, “Mother Teresa, “You, you can’t leave. Where’s your entourage?”, she said, “Is that the gate that gets me out of here?”,  and I said, “Yeah, that’s the Northwest gate that leads to Pennsylvania Avenue.”, she said, “Will you take me?” and who says no to Mother Teresa? So we’re walking arm in arm down to the North driveway, I guess making an escape. Because there’s no way the White House press officers know she’s walking out because there’s a huge ceremony. At the end of the day, where the President and First Lady Nancy Reagan, they’ll say goodbye to her. 

That lasted about 45 seconds because all of the other press see Mother Teresa walking down the driveway with me and they grab the cameras and the reporters grab their notepads and pens, and they’re all encircling Mother Teresa and I. 

Of course me being a professional, I have to ease my arm out of her grasp and I have to grab my camera. I was filming Mother Teresa and she’s all alone. Now I saw the members of the White House Press Office running towards us. They said,  “Mother Teresa, where are you going? We have a ceremony for you. You can’t leave, you have to go back into the White House.” As they’re walking Mother Teresa back, these two White House press people, they look at each other as if to say, “I thought you were watching her?”, “No, I thought you were watching her.” So Mother Teresa had the official White House departure ceremony.

I had to think as I was filming that the unofficial White House departure with me was a lot more fun.