A Day in the Life of "Women"

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?