National Women's Day

On this National Women's Day I am grateful for a mother who taught me a lot about life. Although raised in a Mennonite culture with clearly defined roles for women, she found ways to express her independence while maintaining a gentle and loving relationship with my father. While I am different from my mother in many ways, we share some of the same passions - she was a master pie baker, I prefer cakes and cookies. She was famous for her fried cornmeal mush with tomato gravy and I serve up eggs and crepes in fancy fashion. We both loved meringues, hers with golden peaks atop a lemon pie and mine baked with swirls of chocolate and a garnish of whipped cream. She was an expert seamstress, sewing clothes for the whole family and running a profitable business of making traditional head coverings for women across many states. I, on the other hand, would rather dig in the garden or write a story than fiddle with needle and thread. So thanks, Mom, for showing me the beautiful and uncomplicated simplicity of living life alongside a husband you loved and respected all the days of your life and for never feeling that your role was inferior to his.