Day 2 of Gratitude=Womans Right to Vote

I think this month of finding gratitude is just what i needed to kick start my brain.

As I was driving this morning i found myself thinking of gratitude

and what i was grateful for-can i just say
it was HARD!
All i was managing to come up with was all the things that were irritating me

and not grateful for...

1. It started with a rough night sleeping and being woken up far earlier than need be.


2. Then there were the the drivers who were going slower than the posted speed
   (come on people...pick up the pace, we all have places to go)


3. Or those drivers that ignored my blinker,and felt the need to pass me even though i was trying to get over. (Really can you not see the big YELLOW bus)


4. And then there was the sun that was shining in my eyes as i was trying to drive.

I then realized that I should be appreciating the wonderful sun

and the chance to have it shine in my life

for I know there are many who are not blessed with its abundance like I am

living here in the sunshine-y state of Arizona.

I tend to take it for granted.

I realized that this grateful thing is hard when your mind set is not where it should be

...so i went with the basics hoping to change my train of thought.

I started with the big one
I am grateful for the fact that i rolled out of bed

for that means one thing:

I AM ALIVE!!!

OK, that really puts it all in perspective

when you think about the option of being 6 feet under.

every day is a blessing,

and what you choose to with that is up to you

So, today I chose to fulfill my civic duty and exercised

(yes, I used the word exercise for this is the only kind you will see me doing)

my right to VOTE!

the chance to have my voice heard, is on that i do not take lightly,

especially as a WOMAN.

(I am woman hear me roar)

thinking about the privilege of the right to vote had me wondering so i did a little research.

(i think i might have slept through the details of this during high school)

Did you know that as a whole,

woman have only had the chance to vote as a nation for

90 years???
Yes, you read that right,

90 years!!!

on August 26Th 1920, the 19Th Amendment to the Constitution was changed

allowing all women in all states the right to vote.

(many woman -primarily in the west were already voting)

that is only back to my grandmothers generation that gained that privilege

CRAZY to think about it,

something that i have really take for granted.

It made me think of the scene from Mary Poppins where you see Mrs. Banks coming in from suffragettes march and breaking out in song:
One hears the restless cries!
From ev'ry corner of the land:
"Womankind, arise!"
Political equality and equal rights with men!
Take heart! For Missus Pankhurst has been clapped in irons again!

No more the meek and mild subservients we!
We're fighting for our rights, militantly!
Never you fear!

So, cast off the shackles of yesterday!
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
Our daughters' daughters will adore us
And they'll sign in grateful chorus
"Well done! Well done!
Well done Sister Suffragette!"

From the movie Mary Poppins--Walt Disney 1961

I love the line

"Our daughters' daughters with adore us"

for it is true...we need to hold those woman in high esteem

that fought for our right to vote!

If you look back at history, often the right thing to do,

is not the easy or popular thing of the time.

So Sister Suffragettes,

Today I am GRATEFUL for you and your tenacity

to NOT give up when the going got tough!

i may not always like my options or the outcome--but i love the opportunity I have to vote and I will take advantage of my civic duty every time--for in not doing so, it would be like me telling my sisters who fought for my rights that it was not needed or wanted--And today i am grateful for their willingness to not give up the fight for my opportunity to cast my opinion...