A Day to Rejoice

Today is International Women's Day.  I usually just check off days like this just like any other day.  Yes, women have come a long way -- especially in the last 100 years -- but we have a long way to go.

This afternoon I saw this day in a different light.  I saw it as a day to rejoice.  My phone rang this morning, and my daughter asked me to babysit this afternoon.  She is pregnant with her third child and had a doctor's appointment this afternoon.  Her husband wanted to go with her to drive because she is having Braxton Hicks contractions, or what we used to call in my day, false labor. With or without the fancy name, it stinks, and it's miserable.

Grandpa and I played with the grand kids and fed them dinner.  My daughter looked absolutely miserable when they picked up the kids a few minutes ago.  I was hoping she was on her way home to go to bed, but she is actually on her way to a church meeting.  She is Primary President (head of the organization for the children -- think Sunday School) for our LDS congregation, and there is a presidency meeting tonight.  She doesn't want to cancel it because there are things that need to be handled before her baby is born, and she has given birth early the last two times, so she wants to be prepared.  As much as I wanted to hog tie her to a bed to get some rest, I knew that she is doing what she thinks is best for the children at church.  She has a responsibility to them which she takes seriously.

Women all over the world put themselves last.  We are the nurturers.  We take care of everyone else first -- to the detriment of our own health sometimes.  As worried as I am for my lovely daughter who will soon have three children under age three, I admire her and my other daughters for being nurturers.  My daughters are wonderful examples of what women should strive to be -- caring, loving servants to humanity.

So instead of just marking off one more day on the calendar today, I will celebrate in my heart International Women's Day.  I will celebrate it in honor of all those strong women who have gone before me, and those who will come after me.  Thank you all for being my example.