It’s been so busy this year that Mother’s Day crept up on me. We have a lot of spring birthdays in our extended family, and what with the weird weather this year and unexpected household expenses, it just kept slipping my mind. I like to commemorate the day on this blog because I’ve considered myself a feminist for many years. I’m very distraught that women still aren’t treated as equals to men. This should’ve been a no-brainer over a century ago. (Having an historian’s outlook, I realize that in the days when women tended to die young, in childbirth, it was difficult for many to rise to positions of social prominence. Once we got to the stage that most women survived the experience, and then to the point that economics drove us to two-income families, the male-superiority charade should’ve been dropped.) The fact is none of us would be here without our mothers. Father’s day has never been a big deal for me, but Mother’s Day is important.
I did manage to remember to get my wife a card in advance, but this year the day itself kept slipping my mind. Ironically, my wife and I had watched a biopic of Mother Ann Lee last night—I’ll post on that tomorrow—and it was only as I was preparing to write about it for today’s post that I thought, “Wait. It’s Mother’s Day.” (We do have plans for the day; I’m not a complete barbarian.) My excuse is that we were set off yesterday by an early encounter with a brusque and condescending Verizon employee who would not help set up a new phone purchased elsewhere. I hadn’t slept well the night before and it rained all day, none of which made for a productive Saturday. The movie (tomorrow’s post) was longer than anticipated, keeping me up late. Movies, strangely enough, are now starting to really influence my dreams.
My dream for today, however, is that women’s equality will become a reality rather than something we just keep talking about. There can be little doubt that we’d be better off with a woman president than with the alternative. A woman has traveled further from the earth than many billions of men have. My doctor and dentist are both women. They can do anything men in their professions can. They are university presidents and CEOs. Pilots, both civilian and military. They are religious leaders. And many of them do the job on top of being mothers. I consider it a personal failing that it was only as I was about to post about Mother Ann Lee (tomorrow) that I finally realized today is a very important day. Let’s make Mother’s Day count!
