When I was a little girl growing up in Europe, women’s day was celebrated with a blast.
The old school ‘hard men’, the men who didn’t show their emotions and treated the ladies as goods, on this one occasion would all be parading home from work with flowers. Mostly tulips as these were in season at that time of year. We had very little money and buying flowers was not something that my Dad would do often. He was more of a ‘gardener’ - growing vegetables not flowers! Yet on the 8th of March he would join in and celebrate with my mum.
I couldn’t wait to be a woman and receive my flowers. I don’t know why it was so important to me at the time. My brother teased me about this.
How different the world looks now, some 4 decades later. Or does it?
I often wonder how much more dirt will come out from the past to inspire and drive women to claim equality and independence.
After all, I want to celebrate all these wonderful ladies I know. For that I don’t need to wait for a man with flowers, I give the flowers myself to all my fellow warrior women who are so appreciated and necessary. The rock of our families, society, leadership…
Thank you to Princes Diana for her wonderful work
The Queen whom i admire so much
Teresa May for taking on the most challenging task of negotiating Brexit.
Thank you to Anna Kennedy OBE for the wonderful work she has done and continues to do not just for the Autism community, but for many others.
Thank you to the Aduna Baobab organisation which supports the women of Ghana in having equal business opportunities and not having to rely on aid.
Thank you to Elfrida Rathbone who started this wonderful organisation that my family and many others have benefited from over many years.
Emma Thompson as she is part of my local community in West Hampstead
Emma Watson who co-founder of HeForShe
Thank you to Dame Stephanie Shirley who survived such a horrendous start in life to then serve the community with grace and generosity. She is my inspiration and I often feel that, after surviving such hopeless situations, there is no point wasting life just to let the days pass you by. There is a duty to help everyone else live better. This is why, after surviving cancer myself and my constantly evolving journey with my autistic son, there is only one thing that keeps me alive and that is that somehow, my experience can inspire and my ideas can support others.
Thank you to Blooming Founders, Mumpreneurs, Women in business….
Thank you to every woman, you all matter!
Woman – you are necessary!