Several days ago, I got out an old book called ‘The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt: Women Travellers and Their World’ written by Mary Russell and published in 1986. The following passage from near the end of the book struck me as being very relevant to recent experiences.
Death has claimed the lives of many brave women
who could not be pinned down to the certainty of dying at home and in their beds.
Alison Chadwick, who at one time had climbed higher than any other woman, died
on Annapurna with Vera Watson, roped together in death just as they had been
friends in life. Claude Kogan, foremost mountaineer of her time, died in 1959,
leading the first international women’s expedition to Cho Oyo. Fliers in
particular have spiralled like bright butterflies from the sky, among them
Harriet Quimby, the Duchess of Bedford, and both Earhart and Johnson.
How these women died is important. Those older
and wiser may shake their heads at the foolishness of courting danger, of
throwing life away in such a reckless fashion. But the women who lost their
lives in this way have exercised a small choice in how and where they died and
taken death as they had taken life – their spirits whole and free. For those
left behind and for succeeding generations they have the certain knowledge that
there is more to life than dying.
I have a quibble with ‘small choice’ because I don’t think
these kinds of choices are small, but in the main, I get these paragraphs.
We don’t have far to look these days to see women standing
up to be counted, to speak up, to demonstrate. Sometimes these actions result
in death or torture, other times they do not but we all recognize the courage.
There continue to be women who climb mountains, participate in sports, lead the
way in events and enterprises.
However, there are many women who live seemingly quiet lives
and cope courageously every day with the circumstances of their lives: illness
of self or loved ones, financial woes, job loss, death of loved ones, aging,
and so on. They keep going, do the best they can, still find joy and smiles, help
others.
In this blog, I salute those women and wish them continued
strength and courage.
Note: I know many men are doing the same.
