I Am a Woman - Attending the Women's Conference 2010

I never burned my bra.  By just a few years, I missed the Woodstock Generation.  I was born into an Italian-American-Catholic family and who I was, was very much defined by my roles...first as daughter and sister and then, after I married in 1963, as wife, then mother.  I was always conscientious and sought my worth by fulfilling those roles to the best of my ability.  In 1972 I was the mother of three little boys.

1971 with boys

I cooked a well-balanced dinner each night, often with homemade bread.  I sewed my own clothes, even making Easter sport coats for my sons and my own curtains and drapes.  I took baked items to my parents and friends and even learned to decorate cakes for special family celebrations.  I was a good daughter, wife, mother and happy with my life...yet inside I began to wonder if there might be more to me as an individual.

This was also the year that Australian singer, Helen Reddy, achieved fame with her #1 single hit..."I Am Woman."



At the time I remember how much a loved this song and as I sang along...."if I had to, I can do anything...I am strong, I am invincible...I am WOMAN!" I would feel a sense of empowerment rising within me that had nothing to do with any of my roles...just from my essence as a woman. At the time, I thought this song was strident, revolutionary...such a strong statement! Yet, as I listen to it now, all I hear is happiness and joy!

Before my retirement, I worked at an aerospace company that also empowered me.  In a male-dominated world, I was able to have a fulfilling career with many opportunities for growth.  Each year, at the company's expense, I was able to attend the Women's Conference sponsored by the current First Lady of the State of California.  Often I was also able to take other women on my staff with me for a day of inspiration and introspection... a wonderful perk for a working woman.  When you are out of the workplace, it is a bit harder to acquire tickets so when I was given an offer by a friend to purchase tickets, I immediately bought two...one for me and one for my daughter-in-love, Milli.

Yesterday was the second time Milli and I attended the conference together.  We spent the entire day in the company of 15,000 other women, listening to the voices and the stories of such inspirational women as Chief Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, First Lady Michelle Obama, "Second" Lady Dr. Jill Biden, former First Lady Laura Bush, sensitive poet Mary Oliver, and the grand dame of the entire day, First Lady of California and host of the event, magnificent Maria Schriver. We heard the voices of other women who have led major companies, women who have overcome tremendous personal obstacles, faced their fears and moved onward, women who have reached out to make a dramatic difference in their little corner of the world, women who shared, as only women seemed to be able to do...woman to woman...talking from the heart with a candor and emotion that is raw and palpable. We were touched, inspired, motivated, empowered and most of all in awe of the wonderful gift we each possessed to express the beauty of our individual selves as, yes, daughters, wives, mothers, friends, but all springing from the core essence of who we are...woman!  On the way home Milli and I talked a mile a minute...about what had impressed us, what we were feeling, and what our own personal hopes and dreams are...we shared, not as mother and daughter but as two women, heart to heart.  What a gift!    

Milli and Me!

If I had to, I can do anything...I am stong, I am invincible, I am WOMAN....