Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and having three daughters, I have always made a point of honoring the feminine, whether it be the Feminine Divine, the Goddess, Earth Mother or a woman in our family tree or those others who have paved the way for women today.SO in March, we do a lot of reading about famous and not so famous women who inspire us with their guts, determination, bravery, initiative, perseverance, and love.

With that in mind I want to share some women's history with you this month. I'd like to begin with a personal history of one of the most influential women in my life.

Eula Mayton was my first husband's uncle's wife. Not at all my "kin" by any stretch. But she was the one person in my in-law family that I connected with. When we met, I was 21 and she was about 64 years old. You wouldn't think we'd have much in common, and in the beginning we didn't, except that we both wretch out to each other in what was otherwise a very dysfunctional family. After I began having my children, and trying to raise them against the norm, (home birth, breastfeeding, co sleeping, homeshooling, etc) Eula was the only one open minded enough to listen to my reasons for doing it all. She also helped me and taught me many things. She was a quilter and sewer extraordinaire. Her prolific quilting graces the homes of many here in Tennessee and a few in Texas, to this day. (I own one myself, a loving birthday gift.) Eula would lend a hand when I tired to keep four children in clothing, by stitching up outfits and beautiful dresses at amazing speed. She seemed to always have just the perfect piece of fabric, button or trim for a project. She loved children, welcoming them all into her life and home with treats and love and spoiling them regularly. I always felt that she loved my children as well as I did. Eula was a master gardener, before there was training to become one. Every year of her adult life, she told me, she had put out a vegetable garden and grew gorgeous flowers of all kinds. (I still grow a beautiful Iris, her favorite, called "Jesse's Song", propagated from her gardens)

She put up food like no one else I know. Spending hot summer days canning in her bright, cheery kitchen. Making bread & butter pickles and sauerkraut, and "putting up" beans, corn and tomatoes.

Eula was a cat lover, she always had one or two around. She was a very spiritual person, with a close relationship to her God. She believed in reincarnation and told me more than once, "I think its likely that you and I have known and loved each other in some other lifetime." She believed in spiritual healing, and though she had her ways of doing things she always had an open mind and never stopped learning. At age 58 she went to college for a degree in psychology. She worried and prayed for so many people. She always said we were "soul sisters" and I do believe its true. Eula Mae Mayton passed from this life on November of 1998, at the age of 75. I did not get to have her in my life for long enough. I still think of her often and miss her guidance and love. But I feel her spirit with me every day.

I invite you all to share a story about an influential woman in your lives. Let's celebrate those who have gone before us this month.