Dwidow

We need a new word in the English language:   Dwidow.  

It will be the designation for a divorced spouse when the other half of the divorced couple dies.  It only seems fair, because even though we had been divorced for 30 years, my ex and I were still connected by a child we share, in-law family we liked, and a lot of good and  terrible memories.  So the tie cannot ever be really broken.  And, shockingly enough, I feel grief over the passing of this man to whom I had not spoken in over 20 years. It's odd, but there you have it.

Dwidow/Dwidower:  s/he who remains in this world after the death of a former spouse and who has no status, no input, no welcome, nowhere to publicly place the emotion.

Woman Power

Forty+ years ago, women started to enter the workforce in large numbers. I always thought it would take about 20-30 years for them to begin to make impact in the way work and politics played out.  I became disheartened when I realized it would take much longer.  Recently, I think I have seen some light at the end of the tunnel.  

Just the other day, a woman reporter quit her anchor job on a particular network because she did not like the propagandizing that was a daily part of the network's news. I had never seen a woman take such a public stand in the workplace and I'm not sure if I've ever seen any men do it.  

In a second recent case, 17 of 20 female members of the U.S. Senate voted for a bill adamantly supporting women in the military from the abuse that has come upon them for reporting rape.

As I see it, these women are making changes in the consciousness of American thinking.  They are introducing female values to a previously hard-fast and long-held male viewpoint.  Until now, the successful women in politics and the corporate world have had to react to circumstances the way their male counterparts did just in order to gain acceptance.  Maybe that is changing.  It's time.

Special Days

I never think of birthdays as particularly special. After all, EVERYONE  has one.  I'd usually rather ignore mine because who wants to get older?

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries - my art

 

Today is my birthday - sigh, where did the years go? - and believe it or not, I'm looking forward to the celebration with my friends, who always insist on birthday get-togethers.  It's the ninth year in this decade of my life and somehow, it seems more important.  

Best of all on this day, I made a 117 point word in my Words With Friends game that I play daily via internet with a dear friend. I beat her by more points, overall, than I ever have before (she usually trounces me). 

What could be better than that kind of score just when we think our mental acuity may be fading? It is a triumphant feeling.  Not the win, but the reconfirmation that I'm still pretty sharp, even on this advanced birthday and I can still manage my life with aplomb. We who can do this are lucky, for so many fade quickly once the initial decline begins.

Life is just a bowl of cherries some days!