Lessons from Old Women – The end, sort of

In the past few weeks I’ve shared with you brief stories of older ladies who made a difference to me.  They certainly are not the only women that have done so, but they are the ‘Big Four’.  Along with my thankfulness for them, I am awed by a God who so carefully provides.  When I needed to think carefully about my life’s path and be courageous enough to leave home, Esther and her letters so full of encouragement and down to earth-ness came along.  When I was lonely and adrift in Monterey,  Ella Jean invited me into her home and heart and anchored me. Learning to be a pioneer woman on the prairie of Wyoming could have been a disaster without the skills and smiles that Lula was willing and able to share with me.  And fighting the nagging voice that says I’m not really a writer and that I’m wasting my time on trying to write, Mary Jane has been excited with me and for me and egging me on. Looking back over the tapestry, I can see that God gifted me with them at specific and well-chosen moments.  I had not asked for them.  I didn’t know I needed them, but as soon as each arrived I was able to recognize that that she had something important to give and to teach me. I hope that each of these ladies had at least an inkling of what they’d done for me.

For sure, I could do a series on another kind of woman.  The ones who came into my life and the interaction was not positive.  (My third grade teacher, for example stands out as an unimaginative, mean spirited woman.)  Really, though, I am thankful for these women as well, because by them I have seen and learned who and what I did NOT want to be and I have learned a bit about forgiveness along the way.

So.   Only one thing remains.  I am an old woman now.  It is my hope and my prayer that when a younger woman comes into my life and I am given the chance to be an Esther, or Ella Jean, or Lula, or Mary Jane to her, I will rise to the occasion with love and care and wisdom.

For years I’ve had this saying on my bulletin board:

Here’s to good women,

May we know them.

May we be them.

May we raise them.

Amen!