When we first started trying to get pregnant, a friend, knowing I liked Neil Gaiman, forwarded me this link to a narration and video adaptation of one of his poems, Blueberry Girl.
I hadn't listened to the poem since we got pregnant. I thought of it again this morning when I was photographing blueberries (Flickr) for the 2012 Color Challenge. After rehearing the story, and crying during this reading, I wondered what inspired the prayer and wandered over to Neil Gaiman's blog to find out. "It's a book for mothers and for mothers-to-be. It's a book for anyone who has, or is, a daughter."
Today, Blueberry Girl, was a reminder that everything would be ok. Gates will battle sexism and small minds but she'll survive; she'll be supported and nurtured by incredibly strong, innovative, outspoken women who I'm lucky to have as friends. The path for a girl is still hard, but unlike when I grew up, she won't be one in a sea of men who view her as an interloper, she'll have other females standing with her and she'll have males who see her as an equal - not an outsider - willing to support her right to be there. And with Gaiman's words, I saw hope, I saw progress.
Ciao Bella!
Eden!
Eden!
