I'm a woman. But there comes with the term "woman" certain expectations, health issues, life issues. As they do for men, but men are more "compartmentalized." And women are well... we're quilts of this and that of life.
I'm writing this like patchwork quilt pieces because that is how my life is and how many of my female friends' lives are as we move about our daily lives. We are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, workers, writers, movers, shakers, widows, orphans, caregivers, volunteers. We are bold, brave, beautiful, beyond intelligent, beyond courageous, beyond stressed, beyond all that is sent to us.
I am one woman. One girl. One daughter. One sister. One mother. One wife. One experience.
I am one woman.
Today as one woman I had a mammogram. Today as one woman I heard my daughter freak about a test score that ultimately won't matter. Today as one woman I was one mother. Today as one woman I talked to another mother who made me feel good about my motherhood. Just words. Just reassurances. Just a "we're not alone" talk. Today as one woman I learned I was not alone.
I read about other mothers. Other sisters. Other girls. Other wives. Other experiences. You can read about them, too.
Mary Lenaburg has a wonderful memoir about her life as a mom, wife, sister, friend. She's publishing her memoir about her life with her beautiful daughter in her blog Passionate Perseverance. It's real. It's honest. It's gritty. Read it. You'll be moved. Krista Phillips writes about One Woman's Dream. Her story will move you because she is also real, honest, gritty. Neither Mary nor Krista sugarcoat the truth with Pollyanna-isms. Read about these women. Read about their lives. Read about how they are "Women."
You, if you are a woman, are not alone. You don't have to pretend a strength all the time. You don't have to pretend a peace of all knowledge all the time. You don't have to be perfect and "on" all the time. You just have to be real. Be honest. Be truthful. Be a woman.
Today I lived my life as a woman. I woke up my teen. I made lunch. I fed the kitties. I wrote. I drove to the Wellness Center. I saw pictures painted about Pink Ribbon runs. I had a mammogram. I bared my body to another woman. I drove around afterward and completed meaningless, yet vital, woman errands. You know the kind of errands I'm talking about if you're a woman.
Today I lived my life as a woman. I saw clouds float across the Alabama clear blue skies. I saw traffic slow to a crawl. I made dinner. I ate with my family. I was a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister, a woman.
I was a woman who knows how much and how little so much means dependent upon where I am as a woman.
Where were you today?
8 comments:
I recieved the reminder from the hospital in October and I still have to call and schedule. Thanks for the reminder that I didn't yet.
I'm glad I wrote about the mammogram. I had a writer friend Facebook about it and that was my reminder. I called that day to schedule my appointment.
We have to take care of ourselves or we won't be able to take care of our families.
:-)
What a beautiful post, Christine. Reminds me I am overdue for an annual physical/mammogram myself. Gonna make those appointments this morning.
Glad that, as one woman, you take care of those "womanly parts!"
Timely post. This morning, I was thinking about all the caretaking I do from watering the porch plants on up the chain.
Hi Pam: Yes, I'm glad I reminded you to take care of yourself and your parts today. And remember to look for blue skies on cloudy days.
:-)
Hi Debbie: We must take care of our "womanly parts." I am glad someone reminded me to take care of mine via a Facebook post. This is my way of paying it forward :-)
This was my day yesterday: Woke up, got DD her lunch and shooed her out the door with DH. Stopped by my mom's to help her with a formatting issue on the book she's writing, then off to work where I wrote a brief and made work related phone calls. Grabbed a few minutes at lunch to write. Out the door at 3:45 to pick up DD from school. She had play practice at six, so ran her through Mickey D's for a burger, then drove her across town to her dance studio to try on a pair of jazz shoes so the instructor would order the right size. All the way back across town and DD says, "Oops, left my cell phone at the dance place." Made a U-turn and drove back across town to get cell phone, retraced my steps and dropped DD off at school for play practice. Went to Starbucks to write from six until eight. Picked DD up at eight and drove the 30 minutes to our house. Changed clothes and rode my exercise bike for an hour. About to collapse into bed when I remembered the chicken in the fridge that was about to expire. Threw it in the crockpot to cook overnight. Fell into bed.
And men wonder why we're cranky?
Oh Lexi, I so relate to the driving!! Now that Darling Teen drives herself it's much easier, but forgetting the cellphone? Oh yea, I relate. I don't know how you manage to do it all!!!!
You deserve at least 2 glasses of wine today :-)
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