Thank you to all the women

Thank you to all the women I know who have been physically or sexually abused as children or teens or young adults, and have kept on going anyway. I understand only too well. And I care.

Thank you to all the women who have been fired unjustly from a job or have been mistreated on a job, and have kept on going anyway…who have done what they needed to do, gotten the next job, kept caring and giving to their families.

Thank you to all the women who have been violently abused by a husband or boyfriend or father or brother, and who have overcome to get away or who are struggling even now to figure out a way to do so. I respect you.

The other day one of my sons and I were out on an errand and I told him I needed to make another stop. I wanted to take a few clothes to Ruth's Closet. While I looked at purses for a moment, my son read that their mission is for women and children who need to get out of abusive situations. Back in the car he told me, and he said it lifted him up to know that people are helping. Thank you to those women who volunteer their time to help.

Thank you to women who have been left to care for their children alone, or whose husbands have mistreated them, left them, threatened them, or taken them to court unjustly to fight for custody after being the one who left. Thank you to those women who keep on getting up each morning to do what they need to do.

Thank you also to all the women who get up each morning to take their children to day care and then go on to work. Another son of mine, going to college, once observed to me that women and very young children would get on the city bus in the morning, the woman dressed up, the child with a little backpack; and she would get off to take the child to day care before going to work. Thank you to those women who work so hard just to keep a roof over their child's head.

Thank you to the women who sell me my groceries, who hold their heads up high after trudging through the snow or burning heat to get from home to the bus and then from the bus stop to the plaza where the store is. I see you. I see you serving every day, and I even see some of you smiling at everyone to give them joy. Thank you for brightening my day. Thank you for serving me. Without you, I wouldn't eat. Thank you.

Thank you to the women who stay home with their children, sometimes struggling to have enough, and sometimes struggling with loneliness for adult companionship. I see you too. I've been you at times.

Thank you to all whom I have not mentioned here. I know there are many other situations and life challenges.

Thank you to all the women who have touched my life in any way. I honor you, and may you be blessed.