On this International Women's Day, I'm celebrating one of the women that taught me what exactly that label means.
Marjorie Del Benesh was born on October 11, 1921. From conception, she was already competing with a man, her twin brother. She grew up with privilege, an affluent family in an affluent neighborhood of Detroit. The norm? Yacht clubs and parties and double-booking dates (she once hid in a coat closet when a second suitor arrived at her door). She was absolutely breathtaking and if I'm being honest, she probably used this to her advantage on more than one occasion. She was a dancer. An architect. A doctor's assistant. She was a wife. A mother. A divorcee. A sole caregiver and breadwinner. She watched death take two of her children. One to pneumonia and the other to cancer. She drank. She smoke. She adored "the shops." She was loyal. She was strong. She was independent. My grandmother was many things, all of which made her a woman.
Once the Alzheimer's began stealing from her mind, she needed more help than she was willing to admit. This was incredibly difficult for a woman who had lived the majority of her life relying on herself. She left us just as we would have expected her to, gracefully and with a fight. On October 20, 2008, my grandmother passed away wearing her favorite pajamas and surrounded by the love of the people she had touched.
My grandmother influenced many of the women in my life who have led me by example, the Benesh Beauties: my mother, my aunts Sue and Margie, my sister Amanda, and my cousins Anne and Caitie. I've seen each of them work hard for what they have. I've seen them broken. I've seen them love. I've seen them stand up for others who couldn't stand up for themselves. Today and everyday I'm thankful for them and for many others who have shown me how to be a woman. I am the strong, independent, emotional, stubborn, thrifty, creative, sarcastic, open-minded, and passionate person I am simply because all of you have shown me that every single one of those qualities is perfect in its own right. Thank you for showing me what it is to be a woman.
"You can never be too skinny or too rich." - Daily mantra.
"I pay my taxes" - An excuse to basically do whatever you want, whenever you want.
"Rub up!" - When moisturizing, so as to avoid wrinkles.
"Always suck in." - Obvi.
"You can always return it." - Buy now, try on later.
"Don't you like it?" - To anyone who ever turned down anything she was offering to you at the dinner table.
