Girls Rule

I know some amazing women.

Women who were second moms to me as I scrambled forward through the years, who came together in a blend with my own mother to offer life lessons, figuratively moving my face ever so slightly to make sure I looked up instead of down.

Women who listen to my dreams, who sit with me over coffee or adult beverages to talk about work and life, who make the right noises when I cry and then laugh moments later, who are happy for me when I'm in love, and get mad with me at the men who have wronged me. (Not all of them wrong me, but it sure seems like a disproportionate number of them have. At least, that's what me and my girls think.)

Women who rescue: who don't say "you'll have to let me know if I can help you" - they just show up and say "give me a job." Women who insist you cannot go through surgery by yourself and fly across states to take care of you, or help you move, or take care of tasks after someone has passed that you thought you could handle alone but ended up in complete, paralyzing overwhelm.

Women I've worked with, and some with whom I still do, who are so remarkably intelligent and meticulous about their work that I trust them implicitly with mine, who make me smarter and more curious just by being around them, who don't stop until they find solutions, who want to make their mark on the world through accomplishments earned with great talent and a good heart.

Women who are closing off a much-loved job with sadness but are less concerned about their own opportunities than they are about finding spots for their suddenly untethered team members. 

Women like my twenty-something niece, who craves adventure and pursues work in that field, knowing already what she wants - something that many of us don't find out until much later.

Women like my sisters, who, even though we may not always see eye to eye, show up in force when there's a crisis; no questions asked. (Well, to be fair - sometimes a few questions are asked, like "How did you let this happen?" or "What were you thinking?")

Women who faced grave illnesses with pragmatism and triumphed, or those with terminal cancer who had such moxie I would sob after I got off of a phone call with them, and even today re-read the emails they sent me, experiencing again their last words, which seem imbued with more gravitas and wisdom now that they are gone.

Yes - on this International Day of Women, when many will stay home from work to make a point (I cannot, because I work there already!), I'm adding my voice to this moment, because I really do think girls rule.

Boys: most of you are okay, too, but this is not your day. Oh - wait... I will represent you through the words of Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey: "Except for a few guitar chords, everything I've learned in my life that is of any value I've learned from women." Amen, Glenn.

© 2017 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie

Except for a few guitar chords, everything I've learned in my life that is of any value I've learned from women.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/glennfrey251756.html

Except for a few guitar chords, everything I've learned in my life that is of any value I've learned from women.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/glennfrey251756.html