An Ode to Strong, Fabulous Women

Today my friend Roxanne, Annikah's mama, ran 26 miles in 90 degree heat to complete the Chicago marathon. She ran it even though after 21 miles, they canceled the marathon because "there were no more ambulances for people dropping from heat stress" (one man died from it, and another 250 were hospitalized); she ran it because she had trained long and hard-logging many hundreds of miles a month, and she couldn't not finish; she ran it so one day her daughter would know that you can achieve any wild dream, any goal, you set your mind on achieving. Roxanne- you are crazy- and courageous, and such a person of conviction, and I admire you, and respect you so much and feel lucky to know you.

Sarah and I were talking about what an awesome story it will be for Rox to tell Anni. We talked about what strong female role models can do for a child. Maybe it will make some impact of our children to know their moms had a baby in the middle of their coursework and still managed to finish their PhDs. Maybe it will make them secure and confident to be brought up in a home where people achieve the things they set out to do. Moms who are artists, or musicians, or poets...moms who go out into the world and make it better through their work or their charitable contributions to society; women who dance; women who pursue their passions unabashedly, and unapologetically. I am blessed to know so many amazing women, and it makes me peaceful to think that they are contributing offspring to this planet-surely, their children will bring some balance to this wild world of ours.

Clearly, this is the answer to the questions I asked Friday. We are the solution to the endless diluge of bad messages weaving through our society, and purposely or indirectly targeting our children. We should strive to be what we want our children to become every day.