TUM - Women

Our theme this week is women.  A lovely theme.  And it came about at a time when I had some very upsetting far off news, so I spent the week dwelling on women, our roles in relationships, our roles in families, our roles in society.  It is quite funny how different each aspect of the word 'women' each TUM partner captured.  Mariette first with this stunning photograph (um, advertisement worthy Mariette, Revlon, are you listening ? ? ? ) 

Claire's photo is of a little bit of history.  Jewish-Polish women who worked in an enamelware factory and were thus saved from concentration camps, and probably death.  I love old photo's too Claire, who took them?  What was going on?  Who are those people?  Did they have daughters of their own?  What were their lives like?  Women have certainly had interesting and challenging roles in many places throughout our colorful human history.

My picture is last.  My daughter April, playing with my mom-in-laws hair.  This is not the best photo, it was snapped with my iphone in the dark, so you will have to forgive me.  But I do love this photo for the side of my mom-in-law you see in this photo.  She carries many burdens, she has had an interesting life, and she grew up too soon.  This playful little girl so clearly evident in this photo is so endearing, she is young, carefree and loves to have fun and to laugh.  Her relationship with her grandchildren is growing and blossoming as they, more than anybody else, can draw this young girl out to play.  It is good for all of them, and I treasure the time they spend together.

So there you have it.  Women.  There is so much more to us than lipstick and pantyhose.   We are the glue.  We hold it together and keep it going even when the whole world around is shifting, changing, or falling apart.  We are the anchors for our families, our society, and we are the leaders even when we are not actually in charge.  Men are important too, their roles are valuable and provide balance.  But women nurture, we connect, we string everybody together just like pearls to create a strong families, communities, villages be it 1726 or 2012.  

This week, it is fitting I honor Mariette, who has been the string for us TUM ladies, soldiering on and holding the space open making it easy for us to rejoin and rejoice.  Thank you.