Happy Mother’s Day

I have succeeded in raising four functioning adults. As much as I’d like to fine tune my children, they don’t need me too. Nor do I really want to. Actually, that’s not true. I so do want to. But I know it wouldn’t be good for them or me. 

Now what? Saturday, at Wild Pines, the covenant group I belong to, we discussed describing our life in one sentence. Both as an epitaph and as a guiding light. My first thought was about my role and goals as a mom. However, that was just one section of my life. Yes, a very important section of my life, but just a section. There was a before, and now, an after. 

Even when I was young, I was a feminist. I was appalled that my Sunday School teacher, who attended divinity school, couldn’t be an ordained minister because she was she not he. I quit working for Georgia Life Insurance when I realized I would never be moved to management. Only men did, even though I handled the Georgia Power account, normally the first step on the ladder to the C-suite.  At Georgia Tech, I heard rumors of the prof who wouldn’t grade a woman higher than a C. Fortunately for him, if he existed, I never took that class. Is “she was/is a feminist” my sentence? I nursed my babies and stood my ground that the maternal role is important, no matter how women choose to live their lives. Women’s right to vote was recognized, not given.

I’ve married, owned businesses, volunteered, kept house, etc. All parts of my life. I’ve dutifully voted in every election, including primaries. I’ve done my share, I’ve treated people kindly without suffering fools, I’ve demanded excellence. My mother would be proud. I wish she had been alive to see my life, especially my graduating from college, something she wanted for herself so very much. But her father didn’t think girls needed a college education. I did, and I do. 

I am making my mother proud.