Last week I visited my parents and came home with a photo album filled with pictures of my father's family that I had never seen. I brought them home to scan for my dad so that we can save them for future generations and as I have been looking at the pictures, I have been struck with how different my life is from my great grandmother's. The gendered reality of her life consisted of lots and lots of hard, physical work. And she was a trooper. She raised 12 children, two of which died during her lifetime. She then also raised my father when his mother, her eldest daughter, died when he was 4 months old. Most of this childrearing was done in abject poverty without the aid of electricity or indoor plumbing. Her name was Clara Cather. She was short and stout and possessed a very sharp tongue. The pictures have been a poignant reminder to me that women's lives we and are lived in direct contrast to men's lives. I see the toll of her labor as I view her pictures from early womanhood to late life. She was a survivor and for that I respect her and love her. I wish I had known her as an adult. I think she would have been an inspiration to me. As women, we must remember to look to our past and take heart in the strength of the women who came before us. Thank you, Clara, for the fiery character that all who loved you remember.
