Women are strong, inherently I believe. We are born into a world that does everything to squash us, to stifle our fire & demean our light. We are taught to obey, to be quiet & to suffer in silence. My mom was raised in times where women didn’t have the voice they do now. And yes, my mom is a woman of few words but the intensity in her strength, will & love is fierce beyond anything imaginable. I have never questioned if my mom loved me. Not once. Her love is ferocious in the most subtle & quiet ways. Tolerance is her biggest strength- tolerance of bullshit, injustice, heartbreak & pain. My mom is strong like a woman. She has managed this world, her world with utter grace & resilience. Her daughter was murdered & I never once saw her complain or had her sadness effect me. Yet her sadness & devastation was immense, cut throat, gut punching to her core. She lost her daughter & survived. Her tolerance for pain is admirable but also unfathomable. Emotionally & physically, pain isn’t something that will break her. She almost cut off half her fingertip & hours later was banging the table with said finger, ringing out infectious laughter. Women are strong, yes but my mom is incredible. Earth defying. Magical. You don’t need an outspoken female in your life to be taught courage and power. Sometimes it was what my mom didn’t say that helped guide me the most. How she kept her home, took care of her family & played mediator so many times. I am in awe of her. You can have power in silence, in pliancy- picking your battles & holding true to self-preservation while protecting your cubs. Mama bear that doesn’t kill every threat but outsmarts them with her will to live, her tenacity at navigating obstacles & her constant love of her children. Women are strong, yes, but my mom is incredible.