Today as I thought back on my aunt’s 60th birthday party I realized that much more could be celebrated from that day. My aunt Alice is an amazing woman, someone I have admired my whole life. She has been a guiding influence for me since I was a young girl. I was blessed to be able to spend a lot of time with her and her family as I grew up and thus was blessed with her time. She has been a nurse since her early 20’s…ICU the majority of her career. I loved watching her get ready for work…she always took her time to look “professional” and her crisp, white uniform was always pressed with starch. Her trimmed nails were always painted a beautiful red or burgundy color, and …she wore makeup, lip gloss was a must! While she prepared for work her hair was in rollers and then she would brush it out and put on her cap.
It’s funny what you remember from being a kid watching from that view point. What I know now of course is that she took pride in her appearance and she wanted her patients to know that she cared for herself and therefore she would be able to care for them. I loved listening to her work tales~ the patient’s always sounded so interesting and though I didn’t understand her medical jargon I knew I wanted to be just like her.
The other celebration as I think about the party is the rest of my female relatives that were present. We come from hard working stock!! The woman we all descended from, Grammy Abby, was a child bride, worked hard her whole life raising a large family…her younger marriage she worked nights at the stick mill and then took care of the babies, the cooking and the laundry during the day…..every woman in this family has been a hard worker! The women at the party are aunts and cousins, we are wives and mothers… and we represent the middle class working woman~ there were 4 nurses among us, a teacher, a social worker and a physical therapist. The rest of our female clan who couldn’t be there includes more social workers, another nurse, a family counselor, a budding doctor, another teacher…and I’m sure I’m forgetting someone!
As I posted photos from the party I felt such pride in the women of our family…the heritage of hard work and character. (The men are a whole other story for another time!! ) I watch my daughter and my baby cousins raising their little families with such grace and hard work! They are the next generation of women who are contributing to our society in such amazing ways. They love fiercely and they give to their families with all their ability…they then go out into the world and work hard to provide for others in professions that are honorable and time honored. We have been blessed by God in so many ways~
Thank you Ladies of the family for being such wonderful women~ To the older gals…thank you for your example and to the younger one’s…keep up the good work!! Love you all.
A few scriptures to ponder.
Be diligent and hard-working (Proverbs 14:23)
Work is good and given by God (Genesis 2:15).
Be skilled at what you do (Proverbs 22:29; 1 Corinthians 4:12; Ephesians 6:5-8), and do it as you were serving the Lord (Colossians 3:22-24)
