Women’s History Month
Song of the Week: Soy Yo ~ Bomba Estereo
Welp, Women’s History Month is upon us. Our break from the blog is lasting a little longer than expected. Sometimes life comes at you fast and you need to narrow it down for a bit, and that’s exactly where we’re at. I had grand plans of writing a couple blog posts about history and women I admire, but that’s just not going to happen. Plus, scrolling through social media or Google will help us learn all we need to know about the Women’s History Month narrative.
It’s only March 1st, and already I’ve cleaned out the car, brushed a kid’s hair, gotten myself around, driven a kid to the hospital to have a CT scan, then delivered the images to the surgicenter where they will be having surgery first thing in the morning. We all sat down for a late lunch and now I have to help said kid shower because they are unable to shower themselves currently, then clean the living room and change their bedsheets and get the house ready for post-surgery. By the way, we are trying to move several states away. My husband and other child are leaving on Monday with a truck full of our stuff and we have a dumpster in our driveway to try and empty out all the junk we don’t want and isn’t worth saving. I made promises about packing up what is on a rickety old bookshelf today, but I’m comforting a nervous child and I have dinner to cook and another child to look after, and make sure is looked after, while all this other stuff is happening and my husband is still working outside the home and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’m having some physical struggles right now which make it hard to sleep, so I’m tired on top of tired.
In my previous post, There’s a Grimoire in my Bones, I talked about how we are all survivors, born of survivors, because we are here. As a woman who has struggled - and continues to struggle - with all it means to be a woman, a wife, a mother, “successful,” “fulfilled,” and just keep a small fragment of myself in tact while running the gauntlet every damn day, it becomes apparent who the true heroes are.
Which brings me back to Women’s History Month. I love and admire so many brilliant, groundbreaking, heroic women. They deserve to be celebrated. But during this month, I am choosing to celebrate the survivors just trying to get by. The women who are tired and stressed and doing their level best to add value to this world, even in the smallest ways. We may never know their names. We pass them on the sidewalks and in the grocery stores and at work. Everywhere we are, they are there.
Instead of naming those who we can all find on Google, I am going to tip my hat to all women this month. You did it. You are doing it. Your mamas and grandmamas did it, too. It doesn’t feel like history or glamour, it feels like work. But that’s just it. We are all doing the work.
Keep it up, loves. I’m rooting for you. Happy Women’s History Month! Let’s keep creating this beautiful legacy that is the history of women.