Chapter 1
BOOTSTRAPS
We were never led to believe in fairy tales, but to understand that tribulation was as much a part of life as joy.
You let us go just enough to allow us to learn from our mistakes and missteps.
You instilled in us the courage to trust ourselves and to be true to ourselves.
To love with passion and fight with honor.
To succeed with gratitude and falter with humility and grace.
Through these life lessons, we found strength not yet recognized, resolve not yet tested, and an invaluable resourcefulness.
As we became the women we were to become, we learned from watching you.
How life’s challenges were overcome by reaching within and also reaching out.
How life’s gifts are to be celebrated and shared.
You boot the boots on our feet, the straps in our hands, and the wherewithal to know what to do with them.
For all the sacrifices you’ve made, traded in kind for children’s advantages and opportunities,
Thank you for giving us all we will ever need….the ability to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
