“Honoring the Women in Your Life”

Unexpectedly one afternoon I received a text message from my sister ecstatically proclaiming she had traced our grandmother’s genealogy back to an ancestor who arrived in America on the Mayflower. In an instant I read the English sounding last names of distant relatives who all lived in New England and eventually settled near Albany. It is no wonder my heart has always loved New England. Seeing the names of people I had never imagined, met or ever thought about were clearly in view. I wondered who they were, what they did and what their life story was about beyond knowing their names.

Yesterday as Stacey Murphy, one of our Ithaca members, was talking about a writing project called “NY Votes for Women: A Suffrage Centennial Anthology” where she is seeking poetry and short prose contributions related to that Women’s Rights movement and related events that came after it, I wondered how many, if any, of the women from my Grandmother’s lineage were involved in any of the American movements. I know my Grandfather was one of seven brothers who fought in World War II and my Great Grandfather was named “Father of the Year” the year his sons were in the service, but what about the women? As my sister said to me, “Tracy, women get lost through history because we change our names and it is harder to trace us.”

I know my maternal Grandmother was the only one of 7 children not born in Italy and my other Grandmother worked in a leather factory alongside her husband but that is all I know. I doubt either of them fought for women’s rights although they were strong women in their own way. What about yours? Have you ever thought about the female lineage in your history and how the woman you are today could be genetically linked to a rebel, suffragette or activist?

During the Women’s March on Washington, I spoke with many women who talked proudly about their female relatives who were the first women to do something significant and specific in life. These are the stories we need to dig up for ourselves to link our past to our future and to honor the women in our lives who made a difference in their own way to change the world for the better.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant for you to think about the women who came before you in life who were the “first” to do something like go to college, vote, stand up for human rights, arrive in this country, teach you something you have never forgotten or graced you with a fighting spirit. We tend to look forward in life and today is the day to look backward at the history of your female relatives in remembrance and joy.