Happy Women's Day by Jess

One and a half months ago, my mom moved to Mason. One and a half weeks ago, my older sister Jennifer moved to Mason. One and a half weeks from now, my younger sister Julie will move to Mason. Some of you might be having sympathy for me... some of you are jealous. Those of you who are jealous... should be.

I hit the jackpot on families... not just with Scott, Gavin and Eliot, but with the women I have grown up with. Don't get me wrong... a fair amount of those years we have wanted to find creative ways of killing each other. We have despised each other with the same passion with which we have loved each other... fiercely.

We often speak about the unique entity that we are... this circle of women bound by blood... bound by the history we share... bound by the commitment we have to each other. We comfort each other, we push each other, we challenge each other, we believe for each other. When one of us is weary, the others step in and lift us up with words that we can hear through the fog. When one of us can't see the light, the others put light on the single step in front of us. When one of us is lost, we remind each other that we're not alone... however lost we feel. For all the times we fight each other, we will always, eventually, fight for each other. It's a messy bond we have... full of history that has battered and bruised us, but never broken us.

I will forever be a better woman for the influence that my mom, Jennifer and Julie have had on my life. They have forced me to see myself honestly, sometimes harshly and sometimes with a whisper. They have wounded me with their sharp edges and they have bound up my wounds with their compassion. They have taught me to grant grace as often as possible because holding onto it accomplishes nothing. They have shown me the value of honesty and the definition of courage. They have made me believe that I am more than I believe I am. They have been there when I have laughed the loudest and cried the hardest. They are my heroes. They are my heart. They are my mom and my sisters.