Words matter, and right now, I can’t seem to find a harmonious sequence of letters and spaces that could possibly encapsulate the love, admiration, and gratitude I have for you all. It is you who has taught me to be strong and resilient, but also to dream and hope and have a little bit of faith in the world. It is because of you that I am who I am, and I could live the rest of my life simply expressing my most sincere thank yous, and yet, I fear, it wouldn’t convey the message in its most absolute form.
As girls, we experience this seemingly normal, yet strange experience where we are taught to believe we can do anything, be anyone, and accomplish our biggest dreams. Yet, our dreams and our goals always seem to have a limit to them. You may have heard this be referred to as a “glass ceiling” a time or two, the one we’re expected to shatter upon our arrival at any job, any leadership role, and truthfully any space we choose to take up. We have taught girls that their dreams have limits and even if they work hard enough, there is a level of success they very well may never reach, and then we turn around and say “well maybe if you had worked a little harder…”
Well, I have been lucky enough to have women in my life, women like you, who never questioned how hard I worked or how much I wanted it. You all have shown me that there is no glass ceiling, that I am allowed to take up space, and that there is always room at the table, even if they run out of seats. More importantly, you have taught me that womanhood does not equal perfection. I don’t need to do or say the right thing, wear the right clothes, or date the right person to be respected and viewed as an equal. Simple existence should grant me that right.
It’s the normal, seemingly unquantifiable things that you all do on an everyday basis that knocks me on my ass in admiration. It is seeing my mother, who is one of the strongest people I know, never get jaded with the world despite how many curve balls it throws at her. It is having my grandmother and my aunts give me little nuggets of wisdom that prove to be more and more true as I get older. It is seeing my best friends fail, stand up, and fail again, only to keep trying. It is having professors, advisors, and mentors challenge me and push me in ways I never could myself. Most of all, it is the power of women to lift each other up, even when the world seems to keep taking punches.
All this to say, thank you. From the deepest corners of my heart, whether I talk to you every day or once a year, thank you. I hope you all celebrate yourselves this month. I hope you take the time to look around you and thank the women in your lives for what they have done and how they have inevitably changed your lives. This letter is for the girls who grew up to be amazing women, for the dreamers who saw beyond the glass ceilings, the women who dance on top of the damn table, and most importantly, for the women who have taken up space in my life and shaped me into who I am today.
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