a tradition of strong women

I love how the simple act of reading something, or watching something, or just observing something can send you down a path of introspection. Ryan recently did just that when he said that the women in my life weren't exactly your typical female influences. It had never really occurred to me to see my family as anything but typical, I mean they seem pretty normal to me. But, as I thought about it I realized that I come from a long line of strong, independent, and rebellious women, and I'm really proud of that lineage.

My childhood is riddled with stories of their amazing lives. I had a great great grandmother who owned a boarding house for college students after her husband died, a great grandmother who raised 8 children in a two bedroom farm house and was a pillar of faith to her community. I have a grandmother who dared to choose nursing school over marriage first, and a mother who managed to get her bachelors and masters in five years despite being a single mother at 20. To me stories like these are commonplace family history, but that doesn't make them any less extraordinary.

We don't celebrate the women in our lives enough. My life's story, and the roads I've traveled down thus far, are a direct result of these exceptional individuals and it's my duty to continue the tradition they started. big kiss, bekuh