Since small person’s birth, I’ve been totally and utterly floored and awed by the wonder of women, something I think I’d never quite grasped in my work centred previous existence. So, this goes out to all the wondrous women who, over the last few years of up, down, painful, euphoric, thrilling, mundane, daunting, exciting, happy, sad, joyful, calm, bereft, magical, bleak, musical and muddled moments, have helped me to;
cry
laugh
swear
get by
bake
get up in the morning
love
look after my daughter
listen
hoover
drink Guinness
sing
read (yes it did happen once)
cook
breastfeed
fix stuff
pack boxes
dig the garden
care for my mother
stand tall
pray
sleep
mother
not feel afraid
be silent
shop
shout out loud
let go
swim
be cared for
be defiant
have humility
continue to breastfeed
share every day adventures
dig deep
have time to myself
dance
survive
be spontaneous
giggle
plat hair
wail
stitch
write
be mothered
thrive
remember
set boundaries
forget
get muddy
plan
feel joy
travel
listen to advice
and rebuild my sense of me
thank you
THANK YOU
T H A N K Y O U
(… and of course to many men who have also played their part, especially the man who agreed to publish my book, and the man who, some two and a half years ago, encouraged me to grow my arm pit hair, something which, rather oddly, has given me an absurd amount of “fuck you” conviction when I’ve needed it in so many different situations… and no this wasn’t the hair I learned how to plat, though who knows maybe one day I’ll try.)
I write this on International Women’s Day, and this year, more than ever before I realize the strength of women, and the importance of the women and our voices in this world, and of course in our own lives.
I’ve been (and continue to be) bought up by a mighty woman who had to give up her job as the company she and my father worked for in the early 60s wouldn’t employ a woman if they also employed her husband, she’s in her 90’s now, teaching and inspiring small person and I on a daily basis. I am raising a daughter who last year was the only girl in her class at school, she beat all the boys in her race on sport’s day, and was the only child in the class to perform a solo in assembly, let alone every recital assembly of the year. Her future must not be limited because of her gender.
THANK YOU most of all to the two of them, my girls, my daughter and my mother.
The three of us went to the local celebration of 100 year’s of (some) women in the UK getting the vote a few weeks back … some 150 years of life between us. It was a special evening, and the experience is one I’ll always hold dear… a few days later I drove them both to Scotland for the funeral of one of my mother’s oldest friends (they’d known each other 90 years), we sang rebel songs, we sang children’s songs, we told stories and we laughed our way up the A1, and when we (eventually) arrived in Edinburgh in the evening we celebrated being 3 girls together on a road trip … from one past to the other’s future … the learning never stops, and the opportunities must continue to grow.
celebrating just being together after a 9 hour drive to Scotland
just cos
Oh and because it’s International Women’s Day, or was when I wrote this, why not donate a bit of money, to celebrate the wonder of women, to Women’s Aid … they provide a vital, essential service and deserve oodles of funding.
https://www.womensaid.org.uk/donate/
