Standing on the Shoulders of Ones Who Came Before Us

Lucky was I to be raised in a household that places equal importance on male and female roles. 

To have the glass ceiling cracked to smithereens ahead of my time, by other women who have paved the way (my mother included).

To receive and make use of opportunities: for education; to pursue life's goals; and to exercise my own choice in selecting careers and a life partner.

To be educated and pursue as high level of education as I want (and am capable of).

Stories make us.

Stories inspire.

We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us,

and for these, I remain forever in debt and express immense gratitude

Addendum: My parents raised me and my brothers in a gender-neutral environment, decades before it became a thing. I was wearing shorts and climbing tees just like my brothers (but they had climbed higher than I ever could). We caught grasshoppers in the field, and little fishes in the stream. If I wasn't squeamish touching cold-blooded animals, I would have caught some frogs too, then. The household chores were done together: washing dishes, cutting fruits and vegetables, hanging out the clothes to dry, changing the little ones' diapers. I was somehow expected to do more cooking than the boys though, I never knew why, and I wouldn't' dare ask my mother about it. To this day I don't enjoy cooking, and I am not very good at it. A by-product of all that training and division of work: all my male siblings became hands-on fathers and great husbands. That was the work of ONE woman, our beloved mother.