To the women on my journey
Who showed me the ways to go and ways not to go,
Whose strength and compassion held up a torch of light
and beckoned me to follow,
Whose weakness and ignorance darkened the path and
encouraged me to turn another way.
To the women on my journey
Who showed me how to live and how not to live,
Whose grace, success, and gratitude lifted me
into the fullness of surrender to God,
Whose bitterness, envy, and wasted gifts warned me
away from the emptiness of self-will.
To the women on my journey
Who showed me what I am and what I am not,
Whose love, encouragement, and confidence held me
tenderly and nudged me gently,
Whose judgment, disappointment, and lack of faith called
me to deeper levels of commitment and resolve.
To the women on my journey who taught me love by
means of both darkness and light,
To these women I say bless you and thank you from the
depths of my heart, for I have been healed and set free
through your joy and through your sacrifice.
