Sugar, Spice, but not always nice

I went to see the movie, "Gracie", this weekend. It's set in 1978- it's about a female high school student that wants to play soccer on the boys team. She wants to play to honor the memory of her older brother the soccer star, that dies in a car accident. She wants to play because she simply loves the sport.

She faces a lot of opposition. Her younger brothers laugh at her. Her mom and dad let her know that she can't do it because she's a girl. School officials feel the idea is ridiculous.

This movie brought back memories for me. I was in sixth grade in 1978, so I was a little bit younger than the main character. But the styles, the lifestyle, the families all reminded me of my hometown and my adolescence.

With one major difference.

I never, ever, felt that anything would be more difficult for me because I'm a girl. I always knew that my parents believed that I could do anything I set my mind to. Gender never played into it.

My mother used to say things like "it's a man's world". But I always got the impression that she and my father were confident that I would make it my world too. I never felt like a victim. I never felt powerless. And I certainly never felt inferior to men.

I recognize that I am fortunate. I have never been a victim of violence. I have never faced serious opposition to something I wanted to do.

I am also fortunate that I had parents that helped to lay a strong foundation, enabling me to take on this "man's world".

Thank you Mom and Dad for helping me to be the strong, independent, confident woman that I am.