happy women's day

it's big news here, so it got me thinking about all the amazing women I know.

*the woman who seems to be made entirely of love. who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in every role she has ever had and left everybody she's ever cared for or helped with a feeling of actually being cared about.
*the woman who, although she is not a single mother by choice, has raised four of the most beautiful children I have ever met and has always loved them, not just with the strength of two but of hundreds.
*all the women who have chosen to be single mothers. and two in particular, one almost twenty years ago and the other after years of heartbreak and suffering.
*my two designer friends who took the chance the recession gave them and have showed a woman's true flexibility - one's now a college lecturer and the other a logistics manager.
*the woman who packed up all her glitter and skipped to LDN in a bold act of faith.
*the movie maker/journalist woman of all-round-awesomeness who I wish I'd been more like back in the day.
*the woman who will celebrate her son's first birthday this week, who took a potential tragedy and has turned it into a fountain of information, support and love for anybody who wants it.
*the woman who made one of the biggest aesthetic sacrifices any woman can make and lost all of her hair for the benefit almost 150 children - and inspired many more adults in the process.
*the woman who left her heart behind in VN to go home and earn money to make her dreams come true and was brave enough to fall in love anyway.
*the woman who rarely takes even an hour off from her work to change and improve the lives of almost 400 children in VN.
*the women who haven't let past heartbreaks break their hearts forever. and particularly the one who had the faith and courage to hold on to hope from somewhere in Brazil long enough to not let it slip through her fingers, long may it last!
*the woman who finally got 'round to getting to university in her forties and get the degree and the job that she was always meant to.
*the woman who took a risk because she could, saw the troubled times through and who I now think, and hope, can say it really was worth it.
*the woman who has been a surrogate mum to hundreds of children and volunteers and taken care of me every day for the last four months - always with the biggest heart and smile!

that is to mention but a few of the exceptional women I have the honour of knowing.
you have all inspired me and I hope you are all inspired by the exceptional women you have in your lives.

and then there are all the women who will never read this. the ones I have met since I got here, those who have lived through not just one war but a lifetime of them. who have lost husbands brothers and sons but yet retained their dignity, beauty and will to live. the women who grew up in the midst of war but have not let hatred taint their lives. and of course, the little women of the future, the ones who inspire me to get out of my bed every morning.

I can only wish for them, and every young girl and woman in the world, a role model - at least one woman to inspire them to be strong, independent, loving and everything else they have the potential to be.