Every morning on the way to take my child to school, I pass by at least one woman wearing a hijab. This morning was no different, though since it is #InternationalWomensDay, I found myself thinking a bit more about how we understand the place of those who hold up half the sky.
Like my own mom. She’s basically a scientist/artist who raised one really-cool boy and two less-cool boys in the corn-clogged wastelands of northern Illinois. She gardens well and works hard, just like all women and moms.
Take my wife, please. She spent nine months constructing our child and still found time to cut the lawn – with a manual reel mower! She keeps me sane and reminds me to be brave and to never stop believing in myself. She’s lovely and beautiful and lovely and is an excellent mother.
Like Mary, the mother of Jesus. Besides my mom, she’s the woman that I’ve known the longest. If you know your Gospels, Mary is next-level brave; the kind that spurs you into action. She also happens to be the hijab-wearing woman that I walk past every morning on the way to take my child to school. Her statue watches my garden grow.
And every morning, my kid says, “Hi Mary!” while walking past, followed by hellos to Franklin, Frederick, and Ernest, our gnomes.
On this #InternationalWomensDay, I think about Mary, my mom, and my wife, and the ~3,644,112,000 other women on the planet now, those who have come before, and those yet to be. But it’s not enough to just think, is it?
Being supportive of equal rights for all is an active task these days. So get involved, yo. There’s no shortage of incredible women doing incredible work on behalf of us all, men included. Find them and help them – after asking if/how you can be of help – and we’ll all get through this messy existence alive.
You have my word.