The Women Who Lit the Way

Today is International Women’s Day. And I keep thinking about my grandmother.

She never described herself as remarkable. She’d have laughed at that. She just left a light on. She made sure there was food. She asked how you were doing and then actually listened to the answer. She gave the kind of attention that makes a person feel, without question, that they matter.

I learned everything I know about kindness from watching women do it. Not as performance. Not for credit. Just quietly, steadily, every day, as a way of being in the world.

Today, take a moment to think about the women who lit the way for you. The grandmother, the teacher, the friend, the colleague, the stranger who said exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. They shaped you. They’re in there somewhere, part of how you move through the world.

Some of the most important porch lights were lit by people who never knew how far the glow reached.

Who’s a woman in your life you could reach out to today?