Lady Love

Lately, I've met a lot of incredible women. Some are brand new Momas, some are old pros, and some are so far removed from the thought of children it's ridiculous! But, they all share one thing...they are truly incredible women. Last week, I was having a cocktail with my friend, Allison, and we got to talkin'. That conversation gave me the inspiration for this post.


All my life I watched women do incredible things. I never thought about it much, never really cared, honestly. Now that I'm a woman of my own right, I look at the world differently. As a teenager, I was extremely rebellious and gave my poor Moma hell. I couldn't understand why I couldn't wear eyeliner, or have friends over all the time, or ride in cars with my older friends. I just thought she was mean and I treated her that way. As an adult, it all makes perfect sense. The things she did and didn't do for us was for our own protection. She struggled for years, raising 3 children, working 2 or 3 jobs at a time. She did incredible things, all while keeping us housed, clothed, and fed. My sister and I did a lot of things that could have made her duct-taped world unravel.  Traci and I talk all the time about how much damage we could have caused her, and sometimes did cause her. My Moma is an amazing person who has profound strength and grace. She gives me courage to do things that I probably wouldn't find the courage to do on my own. And I'm thankful for her every day.


Along with my Moma, I see other women who do things that just blow me away. My dearest friend, Shelly, raised 3 boys, worked 2 jobs, and received her Bachelor's degree in her early 40's. That's amazing. My friend, Allison, labored with her daughter with no paid medication, pushed for 4 hours....4 HOURS, to eventually have an emergency C-section. Still to this day she's a huge advocate of Natural Child Birth. A new friend I just met, Lindsey, is 12 weeks pregnant. She had a root-canal gone bad, and her tooth needed to be pulled. She had her tooth pulled and worked on with no anesthesia, pain meds, nothing. Her dentist told her that he would have never done that on a man, men just couldn't do it. I watch my sister live her life with such ease and honesty. She is the true definition of what it means to be a friend.

Me with the two most important women in my life.

Sometimes, when I'm feeling sad, lonely, defeated, I think all the amazing things other women have done. We bare children, we hold families together, we would go through fire for our loved ones. If other women can do it, so can I. We as women, have to love each other, support each other, help each other. We shouldn't be jealous, caddy, or snobbish. We should give each other the respect that we all deserve. This is a challenge that I give to myself and others. I'm going to try to not judge others, for we have no way of knowing their situation and what has brought them to their actions. Women are incredible. God gave us the power to carry our child for 9 months before bringing them into this beautiful world. We must be special.