It is early Saturday morning and my kids are all still sleeping. My husband lays there quietly, listening to me start to rustle as I throw back the covers and get ready. Leggings, jeans, t-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt, coat, double socks, mittens, hat; it’s going to be cold. I brush my hair and apply a little makeup. I grab my cell phone, my poster board signs, and a granola bar. My mom and dad meet me downstairs, already dressed similarly and toting their own signs. We leave the house as the kids start to stir and my husband starts the day with them. He wishes me good luck and hugs me tightly.
We head out to attend the Women’s March on Denver.
On January 21, 2017 thousands of women stood together in Denver and all over the world, and marched. We marched for many different causes to include equal pay for women in the workforce, environmental causes, protecting personal freedoms, access to biological and reproductive health care, and much more.
And I was one of them.
And since that day, I have been asked about how and why I marched. Although I am just one person, just one voice – I do have an answer that aligns with exactly why I was there that day.
When remaining silent threatened to be more of detriment than a solution to upholding my personal values and beliefs, I knew I had to take a stand.
I am sure you are growing weary of the political rhetoric that is canvassing the social media platforms and taking up much of the news coverage each night. It is overwhelming. Much of the time, I encounter people who cannot keep up or are fatigued by the quickly changing landscape of our political world. I cannot offer relief or clear answers on what will happen next.
What I can offer is this sentiment to all people living in this historic climate; each of us has a voice, and I am convinced, above all else, that we must use it as we see fit. What I love about this great nation are the people that make it up; we have such diversity in everything we do and it is our greatest asset, not our greatest downfall.
There are varying opinions of what we want for our nation, ourselves, our families, and our children.
But, as parents we have an added role of influence.
We must continue to discuss what effects us with respect, decency, and wisdom. I have three pairs of eyes and ears on me as a mother and this carries added significance for the discussions I bring to the dinner table.
Along these same lines, it is important for our children to learn from us, their parents, that they have their own voice that carries weight in any situation where they choose to use it. Yet, perhaps even more importantly, our children have to see us use our own voices. I firmly believe each person’s voice is valuable, powerful, and needed- because I believe my own voice is all of these things.
Marching that day had the increased benefit of showing, not just telling my children that I have a voice; that I did what I did because I really believe in the power of my own voice.
Tomorrow will most likely bring a sunrise, a sunset, and another set of political headlines. However, in that span of one day, I continue to hope that each of us has the willingness to use our voices. To be kind. To be wise. To be bold. To be bigger than the things that divide us. With this in mind I have confidence we can continue to move forward with the grace and virtue that our founding fathers held so dear.