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She’s only 32 inches tall, but my daughter embodies the collective history of my family. It’s in her eyes I see the shadows of my ancestors reflected, those that I knew and loved and those that are only known to me through film and photographs.
She’s 18 months old and the only thing she really wants to do in life right now is watch the movie E.T. everyday but, there may be a time when she is older and looks to the night’s sky and says to herself, “I want to go to outer space.”
Throughout history, little girls everywhere have dreamed of what they wanted to be or do when they got older. Some have reached the highest of heights, going to outer space like Sally Ride, or sitting on the highest Court like Sandra Day O’Connor. It’s women like this we celebrate during Women’s Heritage Month and while it’s wonderful that little girls have public figures to look to and aspire to be like, it’s also important for us to look inward, to see the women in our own family who have, on a smaller scale, taught us that no dream was unattainable.
In my daughter’s eyes I see my mother, the first in her family to go to college, standing in her cap and gown. I see my great grandmother, a published poet, who, as a young woman, fought to save the childhood home of Betsy Ross from demolition and succeeded. I see women who raised families and took on odd jobs while their husbands went off to war and women who proudly stood in the voting booth for the first time. And, I see women who huddled their children close as they made the journey by boat to America, braving illness and the sea. All of these women, never known on the world stage, yet just as influential and inspiring to me. I appreciate the sacrifices they made. I can identify with their drive to make the world of their children a better place. Had these women not taken a chance on themselves, what chance would I have had? What chance would my daughter have had?
As I write this, my sweet little girl, whose only concern in life is how many M&Ms she’ll get after dinner, is playing with her baby doll, stroking her hair and rocking her to sleep. Just moments ago, she was “cooking” something in her play kitchen. Yesterday, she was wearing a tutu and dancing around the house and this spring, she’ll be playing with the toy baseball and bat we bought her. Even now, whether she understands it or not, she is learning there are no limits to what she can do or who she can be.
So thank you, women in my family, women come and gone, women young and old. Thank you for wanting more for my daughter and giving it to her. With you, each day of her life will be full of possibilities and she will grow to be a most remarkable woman.
Until then, I’ll cherish moments with E.T.
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About Michele:
Michele Posehn started with Sodexo as a Senior Recruiter in February 2007. She currently recruits for culinary related positions for the Hospitals division in the New York metro area. Michele welcomes anyone out there looking for a company that is diverse and full of opportunity to follow her on Twitter.
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