Ode To The Good Ol' Girls

©Ode To The, “Good Ol’ Girls”…

Now we’ve all heard about the, “Good Ol’ Boys”, but for as long as I’ve been on God’s green earth, I can’t remember ever hearing much about the, “Good Ol’ Girls”. Consequently, I’m writing this as an ode to the, “Good Ol’ Girls” who have come before me and will follow after I’m gone.

We have raised our children, drove them to pre-school and on to Kindergarten, Middle School, High School and then went to school ourselves.

We have Kept our homes and had careers outside of our homes, we have grocery shopped, cooked meals, washed clothes, folded them and put them away.

We’ve vacuumed, mopped, shopped till we dropped, dusted, scrubbed, wiped runny noses, changed diapers, got up for 2 A.M. feedings, held our babies while the doctor gave them their shots and kissed their little tears away.

We’ve walked the floor holding sick, colicky or teething babies and then walked the floor again a few years later for a troubled teen. We held onto our own standards with both hands and feet, took our children to church and taught them how to pray, sewed on buttons, patched torn pant legs, wiped tears, mended broken hearts and skinned knees with a simple kiss and a hug.

We’ve shown up for all the Little League games and volunteered in the snack bar areas, picked up and drove the other kids too. We volunteered as room mothers, and helped drive a classroom of students on a Saturday morning fieldtrip when there was no other way for them to go.

We’ve coached, chauffeured, encouraged, and were true athletic supporters. We have baked cookies, cupcakes, and ran to the store for napkins and paper plates; after working all day; when a note came home with a, “call for help” from their classroom teachers.

We’ve read to our children, listened while they read to us and listened as they said their prayers, we kissed them goodnight and tucked them into their nice warm beds.

We’ve coached and helped them take their first steps, and were as proud as if they had just won a gold medal at the Olympics. These kids were always our, ALL-STARS! Some of us did these things with or without the love, help or support of a husband!

“Good Ol’ Girls”, who shed tears when our children went off to school for the first time, grew up, graduated, moved out, found their places in the world and then said, “I, Do”. We shed more tears of joy when our first grandchild was born and more tears of joy when the next ones came too. We are still the listening ears for our now grown children and mentors and counselors for our grandchildren.

Now I know there are many other things I haven't listed here, but we all know what they are. The unspoken things that we, "Good Ol' Girls" keep tucked deeply away in the recesses of our hearts.

Yes, we are the, “Good Ol’ Girls” the ones in the background who never seem to get quite the same press as the, “Good Ol’ Boys”. Yet I wonder where they would be today without us, “The Good Ol’ Girls”? I know one thing, I’m proud to claim the title of “A Good Ol’ Girl” for there’s no finer title I shall ever attain!

Somewhere in the distance it seems I can faintly here the echoes of the words, "Thank You" for a job well done....!