OYM: For Felise

Inside most women I know, are about 100 women carrying torches, grasping hands, and pulling up and forward. It’s a fire. It’s a collective movement. It’s leaving no one behind. It’s proving that we are unstoppable. And it’s happening inside of them, all of the time. It’s being strong when you’re ready to call it. It’s breathing deeply and taking on the pain of others, exhaling everything you have to blanket them in comfort. It’s nurturing. It’s seeing. It sees even you. It’s light as a feather and heavy like a mother’s head at the end of a long, long day. Yet it’s so very full of love, the kind we write stories and songs about. The kind that makes life worth living. But it’s a fight. A joyous and excruciating war cry. All of this, inside the women I know. And when the days are particularly tough and the road is unforgiving, they tap in. They tap into the women inside and the women outside that are ready to hold them up when they’re tired of being so much to so many. We see you. We all see you. Honor the women in your life and honor them often. Hold out your hand to them and hold tight. Pull her up and forward. Up and forward. And keep going.