First Female Vice President of the United States

I was the only girl born into a family where boys were valued more than girls. I was a girl with 3 brothers. I loved my family, including my brothers, but….. When I was 5, I said I wanted to grow up and be president. I was told you cannot. When I asked why I was told it was because I was a girl….When I was 10, my great aunt shamed me because I didn’t know how to cook. She told me that I had better find myself a rich man to marry.  When I was 12 I started attending mass at a Catholic Church where I wanted to be an altar server, but I couldn’t because I was a girl.  I expressed an interest in being a priest, but was told no because I was a girl.  When I was 16, my brother had joined the Army National Guard as a way to go to college.  I approached the recruiter who was a neighbor because I knew that girls could join, too, but he laughed at me. When I was 18, I enlisted in the Air Force. This was in 1982. I don’t know how it is today, but then I was treated badly for daring to enter male territory.  I received the same message that I had received my whole life.  I am not a success story in that I did not triumph. But I had the courage to try even though I fell on my ass.

I remember when Geraldine Ferraro ran for Vice President. I was a young woman just starting out in life then.  I had such admiration for her courage.  I cried when she lost. And I stood alone in my grief being surrounded by people who didn’t think a woman should be in politics at all, much less run for Vice President.  I remember when Sandra Day O’Conner was appointed to be the first woman on the Supreme Court. I sat in front of the TV by myself, silently applauding.  I watched it become the norm for women to run against each other for Congress. Me smiling, but keeping it to myself mostly because in my world only I seemed to care.

When I was a young mother, the Catholic Church decided that girls could now be altar servers, and I silently cheered. Silently because not everyone thought it was okay.  And others who didn’t mind didn’t see it as an important issue. It was important to me.  Later in my life as an older mom I met a woman who dared to become ordained as a Catholic priest.  This time I publicly cheered. Her bravery made me just a bit more brave.  She was a godsend at a very hard time in my life and I thank God for her.

Four years ago, I cheered as Hillary Clinton fought the good fight and almost became the first woman to become President of the United States.  The little girl inside me that was told that I belonged nowhere because I was a girl, died a little more inside as the President who won became obsessed with hating on her and publicly harassing her (granted, she wasn’t the only one), and I noticed a lot of people cheering him on.

Today, along with my three children, I celebrated Kamala Harris, first woman Vice President of the United States. And nobody can steal my joy!  🙂