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RBG Is an Enduring Model of Strength
Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminds me of the resolve that lies in all women
It’s a magical and empowering thing seeing a strong woman in action. I knew this from the time I was a small child. I watched my mother and grandmother nurse my grandfather through the final days of his cancer beyond the point that he had any fight left in him. He was 87 when he died, just like Justice Ginsburg.
I know my Papa was facing the fight of his life, but what endures for me is the women around him while he did. I have vivid memories of his frail body leaning forward on the hospital bed that had been moved into my house for his hospice as my Mama fed him soup. My mother worked full time, too, and if she took any time off from work, I don’t remember it. I saw my mother and grandmother prepare and offer care beyond exhaustion.
I rarely remember the men in my family being in the room other than my Papa while we played next to him on the floor. No one ever yelled at us or did anything more than shoo us away gently when they knew he wanted rest sometimes over his insistence that they let us stay. The women in my life pushed past their own discomfort and fed and taught and held the roof up over our heads while my beloved grandfather died slowly, peacefully thanks to medicine, and sleepily.
