The women I know are

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        human rights defenders and refugee advocates,

        teachers and lawyers,

                     nurses, and grandmothers,

                     poets and therapists,

                                     environmentalists and writers

Some are mothers, some are not,

                                                    Some are single, some with partners

Some have PhD’s and degrees

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They take care of children or love them

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The women I know, work hard. Always

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They are passionate and practical, have whimsy, and power

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The women I know do everything.

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           They create the world, make birthday cakes, write thank-you notes (some of them), plant vegetables and cook them,

           manage  things and people, are leaders, they aspire, they have vision. They are creative and demanding. They doubt and  

           worry, obsess over what they said and to whom.

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They cry because they haven’t done everything. Perfectly.

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                                                                Then they get over it and do more.

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The women I know build stuff, make the programs that make the living easier. They write or sing stuff that makes me cry. They ride over mountains, and are adventurous, they take risks, make sacrifices.

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The women I know began with my mother, and my sister, my grandmothers and aunts. Then I met my friend’s mother’s and sisters, and their grandmothers, and other aunts and other sisters, and more mothers, and sisters and more friends.

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Then I met my daughters. My daughters, who some day will grow to be women.

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                                                   Women who are advocates and visionary, playful and kind, leaders and followers, doers and dreamers

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          The women I know are amazing. Thanks to who you are and what you be. It helps to make me a little more me.