Greetings, steemers!

Since there are many posts dedicated to women throughout this month for obvious reasons, I came up with this idea in order to honor women in our families.
I guess inspiring women are a common factor in our lives, so this is a topic that suits everyone.

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This dynamic is quite simple, let's just talk about the inspiring women we grew up with (or have seen growing), that is, those females in our families. You can do it the way you want, it's not necessary to make a new post, since this is a conversation, not a contest. Feel free!

I'll start:

Women in my family

1. My sister

Yeas, I know the obvious choice was my mom, but I can't deny the huge admiration I feel for my sister, who is the woman that inspires me the most in my family.

My sister started working since she was a teenager. She joined the -now extinct- club de lectores (reader's club) and started selling books from the catalogue for small commissions. She was into different kinds of self-enterprises when younger: bijouterie confection, home-made pizza, manicure, and Avon cosmetics. She did many things to get an extra income in order to help our mom. That's the way she is.

When studying her career at the university (we both studied in a public university, it's free here), she found a job, and she managed to do both, studying and working.

She's still working at that same job, and guess what? She's been promoted 4 times! My sister is a manager now! My total respect for her.

Photo by Ignat Kushanrev on Unsplash

2. My mom

I am against the belief that bringing children to this world is something to be celebrated and a sort of admirable deed. I think it's not, but how some women raise those children they bring into this world is what makes them admirable; what they do, what they stop doing, whatever! there are plenty of things that make a mother admirable and it has nothing to do with getting pregnant and/or giving birth.

Having said this, I do admire my mom for how she raised us, her 3 children. I admire the fact that she did it alone, because we had an absent/alcoholic father, and the fact that what she did, she did it well.

Her profession is being a teacher, but she became a secretary after leaving her teaching career when she was still young, and then, when the Venezuelan regime became a dictatorship with the presidency of Hugo Chavez, she dedicated to being a tailor at home.

Furthermore, she is a survivor of breast cancer, which she overcame on 2018. God bless her!

3. My 2 grandmothers

On my mom's side, my grandma was a sweet religious lady who dedicated her life to her husband, who she loved for 60 years until her hour of death, and her family.

She had 5 children who she loved and raised strictly with discipline and love, the last of them being born with Down Syndrome, whom she called "a blessing that will never leave her alone."

She lived in a small town where everybody knew her for her kindness, religiosity and good advice. I witnessed how many people claimed to have been helped by her during her funeral, where I heard many stories of people who cried for her. Also, among her 22 siblings (yup, crazy) they said she was the one who kept them united.

On my dad's side, my grandma is a strong but also religious lady who has been through a lot in her life. Starting with her childhood in poverty, in which she started working as a child, how she gave up studying only to work and make sure her siblings had a better future.

He had 3 children for whom she tried her best bringing them up, although she made a lot of mistakes like human beings do. As a grandmother, she did it even better than being a mom, I can tell she has been a splendid grandma, and she still cares a lot for her grandchildren.

4. My aunt "L"

Of all the many aunts I have, there is one I really admire. She's my grandma's sister on my dad's side.

My aunt is a retired teacher who was active during all her years of service. She has 3 children who she raised well and are all professionals now. What I admire the most from her is how multi-functional she still is at her almost 70s. She seems to never get tired, loves walking and doing everything on her own. I wish I was that active in my 30s. Also, my aunt cares about everybody! She loves helping everyone either it's in her possibilities or not. A very special woman.

5. My cousin "C"

Coincidentally, she is a daughter of the woman I just mentioned. I know this is my family, and everything should be connected, but the fact is I have a LOT of cousins.

Okay, so, my cousin is a similar case to my sister. She has worked a lot through her relatively short life to get what she wants, and to help her mom and family. She's the youngest child, and though she has achieved way more than her siblings (not that there is something wrong with them, but I think she's admirable). She made her own way to Spain by hardworking and saving a considerable amount of money. Now she's the main pillar of her family, who she supports financially from Europe.

And I'll leave it here. Thanks a lot for reading if you did :)