There ain’t nothing like a dame. This is how Roger’s and Hammerstein wrote it and I agree. In a Christian sense I have to say God is full of good ideas. I wrote in a previous post few children would survive without Mothers and I stand by it. But of course, there’s a lot more to a woman than just her extraordinary capabilities of child rearing.

Any guy in his twenties can tell you there’s something special about seeing a gal walk down the street. For those my age we can easily recall Ray Orbison’s song, There She Goes Just Walking Down the Street. The songs goes on to add this gal we are watching is singing “Do wah diddy diidy dum diidy do” as she goes by.  This song was a huge hit but, still, I really don’t think it ever mattered much what song the gal was singing.  Women can add a significance to most any street just by appearing on it.

Now I’d never say I spent most of my earlier years thinking primarily about the motion of women-that would be callous, shallow, superficial, stupid, rude,  materialistic, benumbed, cold-hearted, rock bottom,  self anesthetized, not to mention moronic, uncaring, unfeeling and rude. But looking back, I guess all these words do fit.  I’m just not gonna talk about it.  Moving on…..

It is fair to say back in my youth all the other guys I knew were on the same hunt I was. And you know all those other unfeeling guys in my area were annoying. Can’t a guy get some space? Anyway, my wife can tell you about the time my buddy was driving us  in his Volkswagen bus and hit his breaks so hard it nearly threw both of us through the front window. It seems a girl was walking on the nearby sidewalk and his mind said “break”. You know I didn’t approve of any of this! Just pitiful. But as often is the case Life not only had a lesson for me to learn but also just the way to teach me this lesson as well.

My first and second child arrived a short 15 months apart, both  healthy, bright-eyed girls. One brunette and one blond, it seemed they were as different as night and day from one another. One loved to read, study and write while the other loved to  draw, set up tea parties and decorate her room. Then again, each were quite similar to one another. Both like sports, both ran like the wind, both tramped the woods, both watched the same movies a billizion times together,  they often sang the same tunes and each was fiercely competitive. Look out when it came to who held what toy, what book, what doll or what  flavor of  ice cream.

I have to say meeting my wife, getting to know her as I did, began mixing all my new found ideas about women in the vat of my mind.  But in short,  it didn’t take me long to cement all these ideas together and  to receive my wake up call from reality once my two daughters were born. Welcome to the  Wonderful World of Women, the people you don’t just enjoy looking at.  This space cadet was about to land. Yeah, I learned fast, women were more than  just one of my objectives in life.  NO, women are articulate, forceful, graceful, keen spirited, resourceful, bountiful, robust, deep, insightful, keenly witted and, in short,  remarkable people.

I remember the night I began to realize my daughters had an up-hill battle ahead of them in our society just because they were females. This thought was a bitter pill to swallow as a dad.  I drifted off thinking about all the women in all of Mankind’s history on Earth who have not been heard, who have not been given a chance to voice their ideas and to make their contributions for Mankind’s development. It became clear to me then why Mankind seemingly has fallen short of its true potential-heck, we’ve been living half-witted most of  our existence! Only half of us has had a true chance to speak up throughout most of history. This is odd, and, it is  stupid.

So as we leave a month in which we celebrate Mother’s day let’s remember it’s not just Mother’s we should open our hearts and minds to. Man up men and catch not just the flash of that girl walking down the street, but her brilliance as well. How can Mankind do twice as better as we have done? How about for starters letting the women stand as equals beside the men, equal in the work place, equal in the home and equal in the political arena.  Any man or woman can be wrong, they can fail, they can mess up. But it is also just as true to recognize any man or woman can lead, be right, be clear thinkers and visionaries.

Just imagine what Mankind might have done with all of us thinking together. The ying-yang is contained within the same circle for a reason. Here’s to Mom’s doing what we all know they do so well. And here’s to my daughters who taught me a lesson I needed to learn.

Franque

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