Cheers to the Women!

Today is International Women’s Day and I am saying “Cheers” to the women in my life who have influenced me.

Cheers …

To my mother and grandmothers and aunts and sisters who lived life well and raised daughters who sought an education, pursued careers, loved their families, travelled the world.

To Doreen and Joyce and Donna and Ada and Alma and Lisa and Faye who influenced me in my young life through programs like explorers and CGIT and 4-H and Sunday School and who, I realize now, probably felt inadequate and under appreciated but who were formative for me.

To Phyllis and all the other war brides who came to Canada because they had fallen in love with a soldier or an airman and, who realized when they woke up in his bed in Saskatchewan or Manitoba or some farmstead in Ontario, that this was not what he had promised in the passion of new war-time love, and that life was harder than they ever thought possible, but they endured anyway.

To Linda and Sonya and Cate and Beverly and other women who have quietly and patiently walked with me the inward journey of self-awareness.

To Jan and Evelyn and Nancy and Takhoui and Johanne and Jane and Doreen and all the many colleagues in ministry who have helped me to grow in my faith and in my practice.

To Barb and Jen and Mary Ruth and Kathleen who make me better everyday.

To Nora and Janet and Leslie and Gloria and and Shelley and Cheryl and Eleanor and Ginny and Lynn and Sally and Suzie and Kathy and Marilyn and all the other women who have nurtured my soul, often over a glass of wine, and helped me survive the knocks of life.

To Berivan and Chirin and Muna and Noura and Fatima and all the refugee women who have left all that is familiar and known to carve a new future in a new land.

To my beautiful nieces and great-nieces and granddaughters who fill the future with such promise and who, thankfully, seem to love me no matter what.

Cheers … cheers … to all the beautiful women in my life.