In between …15 December 2015

Dear Me,

I just need to remind you how fortunate you are as a woman in our world just by where you were born. I am truly grateful.

• You were born in a country that allows women to go to school–it’s the law. In fact, you as a woman, can go into higher education and study whatever you want.
• You have the right to voice your opinion about anything. 
• You are able to get a driver’s license and drive in your own in your own car that you bought yourself.
• You can VOTE. Full stop. Thank you Suffragettes. Truly. Thank you.
• You can have (pre-marital) sex (with a man or a woman). Just be safe. Use birth control if you choose because this is an option for you. And if you do not want to have sex. You can choose not to. You control your reproductive rights.
• You can choose who you want to marry … and you can choose to divorce that partner too. You can choose to not ever marry. That is okay too.
• You can get a job and work and live in your own house independently. You will get paid less than a man, yet we are not there yet.
• You can choose your own God(dess) or not, and you can talk about it freely.

• …And the one freedom I want you to always be thankful for … You are free to move in and out of your home country and then come back home again. Never forget that. Many people have to leave their homes and are never allowed to come back by reasons beyond their control. 

So, Susi…do you understand what I am telling you? NEVER EVER FORGET THAT YOU ARE FORTUNATE, ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES, FOR WHAT YOU ARE ABLE TO DO IN THIS WORLD JUST BY WHERE YOU WERE BORN. Now. What are you going to do with this gracious freedom?

~me