Me: “Do your children know these stories?”
Older Adult: “Well, no. I’ve never told them.”
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this.
Today I had the privilege of interviewing a very influential older woman in Grand Rapids for another book I’m writing…not hers (yet!). She told me story after story about what it was like to be a female executive in corporate America in the ’70s and ’80s. She was harassed, belittled, mocked, overlooked, falsely accused and the list goes on. She was once denied a bonus because she “wasn’t a real director. How could she be? She was a woman.”
I could barely pick my jaw up off the floor our entire meeting. She was a barrier breaker for women in our community and around the world and yet, NO ONE KNOWS. Her children don’t know, her grandkids don’t know, our community doesn’t know.
“I hadn’t thought to tell them.”
“They never asked.”
“I didn’t think anyone would care about that.”
It’s time we start asking. It’s time we start writing, recording and preserving these precious stories before it’s too late. Message me if you want help preserving your loved one’s story for generations to come.