Today is the International Day of Women. So I want to take a moment to pay homage to the women in my life who have shaped me and blessed me with their camaraderie, friendship, sisterhood, and care.
My girlfriends: My ladies (as I like to call them) have shown me that female friendship is vital to the feminine soul. My husband is my best friend, but he will never ever understand what it means to be a woman. You need girlfriends in your life to share the ups and downs of being a woman. No one else gets how creepy it is to have a million empty elliptical at the gym and having that ONE DUDE pick the one next to you. Only my girlfriends can follow my tangents and how we can be talking about one thing, jump to another topic, and ultimately go back to square one. My girlfriends have taught me that friendship with women doesn't have to be filled with drama. We build each other up, push each other.
My fellow female runners and co-workers: You guys have taught me the importance of ambition. Nothing pushes me to run faster or learn more than a women who knows runs faster or knows more. Not because I want to be better than you, but because I want to be as good as you. We need women who push us to be better versions of ourselves.
My Sister: My sister is the epitome of giving. She has shown me the giving nature of the female soul. She is the sweet to my sour. I wish I could be as giving and nice as she is. My sister isn't also just nice, she has this underlying quiet strength. Like a river that looks calm and subtle, but the current underneath is one to be reckoned with.
My cousin: She is like my sister cousin (which sounds really backwoodsy; she's just my first cousin). My cousin is someone who gets me...I mean genuinely gets me. She understands my internal struggles of personal growth, my tugs and battles with the possibility of motherhood. She has also taught me that soul mates don't necessarily have to be the opposite sex, or sexual, or that there is just one.
My mother: The baddest of them all. My mother has taught me so much. She has taught me to love my body and my not shy away from my beauty. My mother taught me the importance of being "Cachimbona" (Salvadorean slang for being a badass). She praised and lauded me for every student of the month, understood and never shamed me for my academic struggles. She encouraged and valued my quirks and artistic desires. Knowing a bit of her past (my mom can be a bit of an enigma to me at times), she has got to be the strongest woman I know. Without her, I would have no scaffold of how a woman should be. She has taught me to work hard/play hard. She's taught me to run free and love travel. She has taught me the importance of sisterhood and family. She has taught me to be the mother I want to be.
To all the women in my life, I value you you so much, you have all taught me the beauty and wonder it is to be Female.
