If you are a working mother, you are my heroine. Work is wonderful. Work gives us purpose. Work gives us means…Work is hard. If you are a working mother, you are truly amazing!
Perhaps many of you have a supportive, or stay-at-home husband. I still haven’t the slightest idea how you do it. I remember being a kid and my mother would come home and fix supper, talk about her bosses, friends and work assignments. I heard about stress, but didn’t know what that meant at the time.
My own mom was an incredible pioneer at the phone company. She and her friends fought tirelessly to go from a Mad Men type work environment to higher paying field jobs at the phone company, Ma Bell. My mom was among the first women to take a job climbing ladders as a ‘switchman’. She was told, “Shame on you. You’re taking a job from a man who has a family to support.” Little did they know, she had two daughters and an injured carpenter husband to support. If you know me, you know I’m strong willed. I’m proud to say I get it from my mom. I recall wearing her hard hat around the house and playing ‘the boss’. She was the real deal.
So, a grand salute to all of the mothers who paved the way for those of us who follow. And to those mothers supporting their families now…Well, hard hats off to you!
Mom – an ambitious woman taking on a man’s world to support her family