The 19th Amendment Womens Emporium (WE)

Honor Your Mothers

Lots of planning and preparation went into this year's celebration on August 16th of the ratification of the 19th Amendment right here in the Susan B. Anthony Historical District ... and it was worth it!

Thirty-seven, vendors took their time to celebrate the woman's right to vote AND to honor the Haudenosaunee for offering suffragists real-life examples of women in leadership and an existing example of democracy.

That's what these women do.  Honor those who came before them.

There was a number of mother/daughter teams vending; what an inspirational sight!  One daughter had her mother's picture to show the motivation behind her beautiful macrame plant hangers and shelves; she is raising money for her mother's knee surgery in Afghanistan.  

It occurred to me that those who come to support the vendors need to be family members as well as customers.  ALL family members should support the creativity, drive, motivation, courage and vision of their moms, sisters, daughters, etc.

Although the shadow of the unratified Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) does take away some of the joy of seeing women connecting and selling their products.  It makes me realize how scared those good ole boys are of us.  

But we can't hate them.  They're in a spiritual vacuum; in the bigger picture, that shallowness is actually a very lonely and distrusting place.  We have to counteract their hate and dismissiveness, with the love they so dearly need.  We have to be loving.  We have to help each other be loving and support each other when it's really hard.

And don't forget that Tough Love and Boundaries are part of the package.  We will stand up for ourselves, with integrity and with honor, but also with love.