Women’s Day is March 8

March 8 is International Women’s Day.  This day was created to recognize and celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and girls world wide.  International Women’s Day was also intended to raise awareness of the progress made towards achieving gender equality.

I recently read a wonderful article about one woman’s strength and perseverance.  The author was writing about his mother and her struggles.   She was a teenager in Finland in 1939.  By 1941 she was married with a baby.  Like many many other women, she kept things going while her husband was away in the military.  During the war, women became farmers and factory workers as well as mothers.  Later, when the soldiers returned home, these women were called on to embrace them and heal their spirits.  Women were instrumental in rebuilding the country.  Please take a moment to read the entire article.

The story of courage and perseverance I just shared motivated me to write something about my own mother.  My mother was an equally courageous person in her own right.  She spent her earliest years on a farm in the American midwest.  When her father became ill, the entire family moved to California for his health.   Mom grew up in the Los Angeles area and later on lived in San Francisco.  After her father died, my mother and her mother moved back to the midwest.  In 1930, Mom landed a coveted government job and moved to the Washington, DC area permanently.  Later, her mother joined her in Washington.  Mom was married in the 1940s, a marriage that did not work out.  She was left alone with a small child (me) and a family to support.

Mom took accounting classes at night to earn a degree that allowed her to advance in her job.  Before I was ready to start school, we moved to a house in an area with better schools nearby.  Her support and encouragement always kept me going.  She is my heroine.