I’m not going to particularly talk here about the importance of International Women’s Day or what it means, I just wanted a quick word about some of the thoughts it triggered in my mind about the women in my life.
For the first 25 years of my life, there was one very dominate woman in our family – my Gran. She was five feet tall, Welsh, and the phrase ‘doesn’t suffer fools gladly’ could have been written for her. She was not afraid to tell anyone what she thought, often to the point of embarrassment for those around her, she would sit me on her lap as a child and try to get me to drink gin and tonic, and she had a really annoying habit of clutching me to her chest when I had a cough, when really all I wanted was some space to breathe. She was also very intelligent, funny, determined and hard-working.
Our family has been rather dominated by women ever since, and between us we are some pretty strong characters. I can’t imagine what it must be like as a man, coming into our family, but I would think, (or perhaps I like to think), that it’s a little daunting. We are strong, but not at the expense of our compassion. We know what we want, but are also generous with our time and support. Most of all, we are always there for each other.
I have a favourite quote that always makes me think of my own daughters, Bee and Belle, and of my Gran. I think it would make a pretty good family motto for us.
Happy International Women’s Day to you and all the fierce women in your life.
(Just to annoy Belle, I used a font in this graphic called ‘Courgette’…)