I CELEBRATE THE WOMEN!
(Inspired by the legacy of RBG and the women who have gone before, are here now, and will be in the future!)
Of Ancient Ancestry
Whatever ethnicity, lifestyle, race, religion, or station in life, who by their very existence, pioneered and paved the way for those of us to come.
Of My Own Ancestry
My half Irish, half German paternal grandmother born in a dugout on the plains of Kansas and who lived to be 100!
My maternal grandmother Elizabeth whose lifelong dedication to her faith, family, and social service inspired me to become a social worker.
My own mother Barbara, feisty, obstinate, hardworking wife, mother, daughter, sister who still guides, protects, and watches over me!
Of Lifelong and New Friendships
Who have stayed with me through thick and thin, challenged me, supported me, loved me, and still do!
Of Those In Careers
Who in social work, medicine, nursing, chaplaincy, bereavement, caregiving, motherhood, housewifery, military, police, clerking, and all the myriad roles of women, have served others and still do!
Of Those Who As Clients
Allowed me to hold the space for their healing, and challenged and taught me beyond my own limits.
Of Those Who in Recovery
Went before me and millions of others to show us the way of sobriety, new life, and the promise of starting over each day.
Of Those Who Are Young
And step forward to radically change the status quo, who choose to be traditional, and/or choose to do both.
Those Of Color
Who have stepped out and are stepping out courageously to fight for justice, for freedom, for equality, and/or who struggle in their daily lives.
African American: Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad conductor, abolitionist). Maya Angelou (Poet, civil rights activist). Dorothy Mae Lewis (my amazing mother-in-law who raised 13 children and welcomed/loved me as her daughter-in-law).
Asian: Kalpana Chawla (First woman Indian astronaut who died in the Columbia tragedy).
Latinas: Delores Huerta (Farm Labor movement leader and activist). My friend Laurie (Hispanic social worker and activist).
Middle Eastern: Malala Yousafzal (Campaigner for girl’s education and Nobel Peace recipient).
Native American: Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee activist, social worker, first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation).
Trailblazers in the Judiciary
Sandra Day O’Connor
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Rest in Peace!)
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
All women who each in their own right have pioneered the role of women as professors, in government, and as judges and Supreme Court Associate Justices.
Of Those Religious
Who in all religions and traditions have been called beyond the limits of their time to serve!
The Mother Mary
Sr. Teresa McIntier (RN, Grief Educator, Counselor).
Jeanette Renouf: (Psychologist, Doctorate of Ministry, my mentor, and advisor).
Joyce Meyer: Charismatic Christian author, speaker, and TV minister.
Of Those Who are in Your Life
Have inspired, challenged, disciplined, supported, comforted, and helped you to become who you are, and more than you thought you could be!
WE BLESS ALL THE WOMEN OF THE WORLD WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US, WHO WILL COME AFTER US, AND WHO ARE ON EARTH NOW!
Carolyn Q.
