They tell us to have a gratitude journal. I keep meaning to do that...
I can tell you a little about the women in my life I'm grateful for though. We can start at the beginning with my Mamaw Juanita. She raised my mother alone. She is in her 80s now and still cooks and cleans for everyone. At every holiday, she makes sure everyone else is eating before she makes a plate. She sends everyone a card for every holiday. I'm not kidding. She worked at an auto-parts store for over 50 years. She took pictures of everyone that shopped at that store. She got to know them and their family, and she'd send THEM cards. She's the true "Grandma" idea of perfection and kindness.
My mom. It's funny because when you see my mom and mamaw together, they are hilarious. However, they couldn't be more different. I spent the majority of my life living with just her. When I was in high school, she put herself through college while working full-time. I value that she let me be weird. She let me figure out my style and interests...and there were some STRANGE phases. She always put me first, and I always felt loved.
My sister. My mom worked a lot, like I mentioned, so my sister, Kara, helped a lot. Kara is 8.5 years older than me, so let's just say I wasn't her favorite person for a while. I was the annoying younger sister. As we grew older, that changed. She is one of the first people I call when I have a question about ANYTHING. How to make a recipe, how many bottles of champagne I need for a party...the list goes on and on.
Going to college, I started in radio immediately. I met some amazing women who helped teach me the basics...Julie and Storm...
As I continued on to mornings, I had my first female mentor, Sarah Pepper. Sarah is hilarious. She has compassion, and she is damn good at radio. She eventually moved on the Houston, but we continued to talk for years. She gave me advice, she helped me grow, and to this day, we still share ideas.
Once Sarah moved off to Houston, Shawnda came. I wanted the job Shawnda got, so I obviously hated her immediately. Then I got to know her, and I couldn't hate her at all. It was clear why she got the job. She's so creative. I don't know how she functions because her brain is going all the time, and she's so crazy and so funny. She is actually the one that gave me Dave's personal email address which helped me get in direct contact with him when this job opened.
These are all women who impacted my life in some way. There are so many others, but maybe take a minute to acknowledge the special women in your life today. #InternationalWomensDay