Women we admire

and have to ponder this and how I want to write it without crying myself. But, what's more important is that I'm waiting to hear from you. Who inspires you. So come on, jump in with both feet and get wet. The water in here is warm.

Rae

Much like Jayne, I have many women I admire and who have inspired me over the years. Some are famous, but the majority of them are every day women doing extraordinary things.

My Grandma H. is one of them. She passed away a couple of years ago and I miss her every day. A simple woman, she had a hard life. Her mother died when she was young and her step-mother was only a few years older than her. She married, and her husband was abusive and an alcoholic, but she never let that stop her. I came into her family via marriage, but she never made me feel like I didn't belong. She treated me equally and she taught me the value of not being a sore loser when it came to cards and other games. She also taught me about the true meaning of dignity. Because no matter what was happening in her life, she held her head high and always managed to smile. She survived the depression, recessions and wars. She wasn't a wealthy woman or a powerful woman. But what she had was something so much more. She was rich in her words, in her love for her family and she was a genius when it came to stretching the value of a dollar.

She knew that money most certainly did not buy hapiness and she taught us how to be happy or how to make do without it. She made the best Ham salad, pickled eggs and peanut butter toast.

She rarely complained--and she didn't when ovarian cancer spread throughout her body at the age of eighty-six. Even in her last few days of death, she was worried about us. It was never about her.

Rae

i have to admit that I admire a lot of women. most of them ordinary...my mom is one of the first. She was born in 1934. She survived the Depression, married a man who was Native American in spite of her family's objection, served in the WAC, lost my dad at 32, raised the four of us, worked as one of the first women in a paper mill, and managed to overcome/deal with alcoholism for the past 15 years. she is still alive and vibrant, living in Las Vegas, after having a vulvanectomy last summer. She is 75 years young/

I work in an inner city school in new york state (but not nyc) where I see ordinary women return to work each day to give their best to children who need role models to be successful in the world they don't come from...women who teach, and nurture, and rise above the media line that says teachers are the reason children in inner cities aren't suceeding.

so there are lots of women to admire out here...

My mom was a housewife with two small children in the late 60's, whose husband drank away her home, two businesses and an accustomed lifestyle. She had never worked outside of her home. When my father left, so did her friends. With no income and rent two months behind, my mom went out and got a job in a grocery store. In a short time she became an assistant manager of the deli department. Within a year, she was the first female manager in the chain. Money was tight and but she never complained about the hours she had to work. She taught me and my brother that sometimes we needed to sacrifice for each other. One week there would be enough to buy shoes or clothes for one or the other, but rarely both. As a result of her hard work, we learned strong values.

At the age of 33, my brother died of a brain tumor. And while no parent should ever outlive a child, my mother shows a strength I never knew her capable of. She has grace and class. She never rails or complains. She is not bitter or angry. She believes and lives in the Lord's grace. Not a preacher or church crazy. She has accepted her life and lives it one day at a time. She finds the best in every situation and looks for the best in those around her.

At 62, she went back to college and got her degree in Children's Psychology specializing in Children with Special Needs.

At 71, my mom continues to be active, a red hatter, volunteer dance teacher at the seniors gym, feeds the neighbors. I can't tell you how proud of her I am. I aspire to be like her.

I don't think you were being corny at all. I love reading these stories.

Rae