Honoring Women, Honoring Love, Honoring Life

As March arrives, my heart turns toward women across the world.

We are the voice of each other!

I pray and send my deepest love to every girl who has been silenced, abused, forced into marriage before her body or spirit was ready, or abandoned by those who were meant to protect her. There are places in our world where girls are still treated as property instead of possibility. Where childhood and education are taken too soon. Where innocence is traded for survival.

Someone said, “Nancy you live in a bubble!” I do! But not the metaphoric bubble referring to denial. My bubble is a “bubble of hope” that this world will be a world in which every form of life is treated with respect and dignity. No matter what!

I do not write these statements with anger, but with awareness. We cannot heal what we refuse to acknowledge. Regardless of our culture, we know what is morally wrong. Somehow, when something is considered “cultural,” it is deemed to be okay and to be accepted without question. Well, I am here to tell you that is not okay and should not be blindly accepted. You stand for what you believe in and support those whose voices have been silenced by traditions that do not serve women, but rather steal their life essence.

Every girl, boy and child deserves safety. They deserve education. Every girl deserves to grow fully into her body, her voice, her choice and her dreams.

This month, I also celebrate the brave women who have changed the world not always through loud revolutions, but through quiet resilience. Women who have nurtured families, built communities, broken norms and planted the seeds of kindness that continue to bloom each season and with each new generation to come.

My grandmother, Mama Merced, used to say:

“A woman is the steering wheel of the car.”

At first, it sounded simple, but with time, I understood the depth of these words.

A woman helps guide the direction of her life, her family, and often her community. The truth is that women are community builders! Within her lives the power to cultivate love, kindness, compassion, and flexibility. Her influence is never small. It is foundational.

As women, we carry a unique mission. Each one of us has a distinct purpose that no one else can fulfill. We are not meant to compete, we are meant to connect. We are not meant to put one another down. We are meant to lift one another up.

Let us continue raising each other.

Let us celebrate with each other.

Let us honor the sacredness within every woman.

Mujer, remember that there is growth within each fall and triumph within each rise!

This month also carries personal reflection for me. March 13 marks seven years since my late husband, Ed, made his transition. It feels like yesterday, yet seven years have passed. Time moves, even when the heart pauses.

I will honor him with a Mass, a meal shared in remembrance, and a visit to the cemetery where Ed, and our son, Kai rest. Yet, I am reminded that honoring our loved ones does not require grand gestures. They are a thought away and that is powerful!

On my last birthday together, Ed, gave me a gift with a message that still moves me:

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” by

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa (President of Liberia 2006–2018).

This message continues to guide me.

March also whispers of spring…of renewal, rebirth, and warmth returning after cold seasons. Just as winter does not last forever, neither does despair.

With every tear the heart releases, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

May this month remind us:

To protect our girls

To empower our women

To honor our loved ones

To dream bigger

To rise again and

To not forget the power that lies within you

May the love of God, however you understand that divine presence, guide you through this season of growth, rebirth and transformation.

You are the creator of your life. What a great honor that is!

Let your light shine bigger and brighter by honoring and accepting all of who you are.