She

This past weekend Ben's dad and brothers came to visit us.
One night, I took his brothers, Jake and Eli to see a movie.
On the way back to Sterling, I was messing around with Eli when he said,
"Dad... Nicole's eating my brains, She's attacking me!"
Nothing unusual was said. This is how Eli and I interact. I pretend to eat his brains.
But something extraordinary hit me when he said it this time.
She's attacking me.... She.
I stopped to soak in what I just heard. He called me 'she'.
I've been called it before. But never has it resonated so profoundly.
I said to myself, "That's right Eli... I am a she."
Pride flooded my spirit.
Often I hate being a woman. There's unwanted monthly visits, extreme societal pressures, pregnancy (if I so choose), menopause (of which I have no choice), undeniable stereotypes, inequality in many spheres and a smorgesboard of sexual jokes.
But at that moment, I smiled.
I grinned.
In the word 'she' is a great part of my identity.
I am woman, hear me roar.
I am the carrier of indeniable beauty.
I am the womb that gives life.
I am the strength that fights for love.
My own uniqueness as a woman is irrefutable.
But there is a common bond, a sisterhood of similarities that make women exceptional.
I can't name this common bond. I don't think it's motherhood, I don't think it's compassion, I don't think it's beauty.
It's something greater, found in our creator that we haven't completely captured.
Whatever it is, I will carry it with pride.
As I grow older and my feminity continues on the journey, I will not forgot the joy I experienced when he called me she.
As my "dairy aire" becomes more bodacious, as stretchmarks decorate my body, as my breasts become more at rest, as wrinkles make their home around my eyes and and lips... I will hold my head high.
I am a flower blooming. I am continually growing into a woman.

I am a she.
I am her.
And so I go on, sharing this feminity with the world.
In hopes that it will reach the darkest crevices of the world and provide light and life.
And as for now, I smile. Admiring what my creator has given me.