Patience and Kelly

I got to spend some much needed time with two of the most powerful and strong women I will ever know. We had a "girls night," which does not look at all as some may think "girls night" should look.

Yes, we watched a movie, ate some ice cream and chips and salsa, and talked about boys... but that was just the start.

We turned off the lights, lit eight candles, huddled on the couch together under blankets, and read aloud by candle light. We read excerpts from the vagina monologues, which I am now convinced you could only read aloud with people you are more than comfortable with. We also read an essay from a book Kelly and I got from the library by Gloria Steinem, who was one of the most influential feminist activist and authors of all time (in my opinion that is). It was a spiritual and mighty thing to behold with those girls, and a night I will never let slip from my memory. To be reminded of the gift of womanhood and what a powerful force that can be is something not done often enough. We ended the night, or at that point, the early morning, by blowing out all eight candles to different things, to Rachel in hopes she would join us next time, to our grandmothers, to Gloria Steinem and her work, to us three and being women... eight things were not enough. Mostly it was to the love and non judgement of women everywhere, oppressed women and free women, happy women and miserable women, confident women and self conscious women, to every woman, knowing each is powerful and beautiful in her own way.

More than a feminist, were humanist... and I try to remind myself of that every time I am around another human being. Unite.