For Sarah and Rachel

In 2004 my aunt Gail died after years of suffering from lupus. Her two daughters, Sarah and Rachel, were only 14 and 11 years old at the time. Even worse, Aunt Gail died on the morning of the very day that we buried my grandmother. Sarah and Rachel lost their mother and a grandmother just days apart.

They are women now and their father, Jim, has done a beautiful job raising them. He is to be commended. But every now and then I think of something wise my mother said to me, much of it during my teen years, and I am reminded that Sarah and Rachel didn't get to hear that sort of advice.
Last year, on the eve of Rachel's graduation from high school, I had an idea for a guide book of sorts. It would be a collection of female wisdom, something I could give to Sarah and Rachel to, in some tiny way, make up for them not getting to hear those words from their own mother. Many of my friends pitched in and offered their own mom-wisdom, sharing things their mothers and grandmothers told them, and things they plan to tell their own daughters. And, since we all can learn from each other — and each other's mothers — I hope that others will share their mom-wisdom here, too.

This blog is for Sarah and Rachel. I love you both and I know your mother is smiling down on you today, just as proud and pleased as she can be.