The women who got us here.

A friend of mine recently lost her mother.  Stephanie's mother was born in 1930 - which was the same year that my own mother had been born.  I had never meet my friend's mother but I had heard stories about her for the past several years as her health had declined.  I was hearing about an elderly woman who was slowly deteriorating.  I was hearing about the sadness and the frustrations of her decline.  This was a story that I could well identify with as I had watched both of my parents go from vital, interesting people to mere shadows of their former selves. It is sad to see this happen - and it is so important to remember who these people really were.  I got a glimpse of who my friend's mother was when I went to her memorial service and it really set me thinking about the women of that generation.  Her accomplishments were being recounted -  her travels, her volunteerism, her pursuit of education and enlightenment - she held a doctorate degree!  And one phrase in particular really struck me - she had done all of these things and had never received a paycheck for any of them! What a luxury that must have been to be able to go and explore life without having to worry about the small stuff. Not to say that all women of that generation were able to do this.  So many of that generation paved the path and worked their way up in the job markets. I am so glad that we have moved forward and that women are able to make a paid career out of their pursuits.  But part of me wonders if women had more fun back in the day when things were done strictly for  personal interest!  I wish that I had more time to find out.  Maybe that is what career jumping is all about.  Today we get to change gears (theoretically if we can find a new job) in order to fall in love with a new idea again.  It keeps us interesting and hopefully staves off the old age a little longer.  I have some wonderful friends - my role models - who are in their 80's and who are so interesting and young.  And it seems their secret fountain of youth is keeping  busy and always being ready to try something new.   God bless these women.  May they live to 100 and always be explorers.