It’s a couple of days past the 5^th anniversary since we celebrated your life and it was also International Women’s Day on Sunday.

I have been moved and stopped in my tracks to take time to reflect. Upon doing so, I realized that with your passing came several turning points that I never ever dreamed would have occurred. However, they did, and I am forever changed.

Through processing it all, I have faced some fears I never wanted too and in fact avoided as they arose previously. I don’t regret the events, although at times they were difficult to understand. With a higher perspective, I see how they have helped me to grow with determination and strength.

I am grateful to you and your mother (my grandmother). I know the two of you faced many challenging circumstances throughout your lives.

I realize how far the women of the Western World have come in the last 30 years, and there still is room for growth and evolution. I recognize how much we have in North America. Yet there is much work to be done to support other women.

In other parts of the world, women do not have the same opportunities and are sometimes just fighting for their lives and caring for their families. These women do not have the same freedoms or voices that we do here. Often they are treated like 2^nd class citizens.

I appreciate that sacrifices you made for dad and I over the years. I am grateful for all the contributions you made to our family, friends our community and what you did and tried to do for the city and local government where you worked. You were always there to lend a hand in whatever way you could. You had a soft-spot for the underdog.

It is my hope that you are now free and enjoying that new freedom. Maybe one day I can fulfill a dream of yours to do greater service for women and the world.

Another wish of mine is that women do not have to take their secrets of terrible abuse to the grave but rather speak out about them and heal their wounds and share their stories for a greater good. To use their strength to stand in their authentic power, to honor their beautiful feminine attributes and make a positive difference in the world and not from blame, but rather from an elevated perspective of a larger purpose as I have done.

Thank you, Mom, for your continued inspiration and effect on my life.

What women have impacted your life and in which way?