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In Honor of 10,000: Shout Out a Woman Who's Got Your Back!
Today I welcomed member number 10,000 to join the ranks of She Writes. (Feel free to welcome her, too: Heather Gordon-Young!) And those ranks have swelled in a way that Debbie and I never dreamed possible. In a little over a year we have gone from zero to 10K, and when Debbie and I were discussing how to commemorate the rapidly approaching milestone, Debbie said something very simple, and very powerful. "Just think of it!" she said to me. "Ten thousand women have now got your back."That's right. Ten thousand women (and a few good men, too) are now a part of this community, sharing their knowledge, lending their support, and banding together to make the art and practice of writing just a little bit easier for us all. This is an incredibly powerful thing, a potentially game-changing thing. Debbie had it right. Every one of you can now say: ten thousand She Writers have got my back.
To celebrate, I am asking each of you to shout out a woman who has had your back, now or ever. We all need to be carried sometimes; none of us can walk this walk alone. Who has protected you from hurt, from sadness, from harm? Who has fed you when you were hungry -- for a hug, for an encouraging word, for a hand? Who has remembered your birthday, read your first draft, dropped everything to come when you called? Who has been your teacher, your mentor, your student, your sister, your friend? Remember her and honor her by giving her a shout out on She Writes today, and if you tweet, shout her out on Twitter with the hashtag #SWSO. (She Writes Shout Out.) I can think of no better way to mark this occasion than lighting up this network and the world beyond it with the names of the women who make us shine.
My shout out goes to my flesh-and-blood sister. A few weeks ago she flew from San Francisco to New York to help me celebrate my 38th birthday. She'd been pulling all nighters for two weeks working on a grant application for her job in city government, and was dead tired and downright spent. (The subject line of her email to me with her flight information was: "I'm coming, dammit!") But that didn't stop her from fulfilling what she saw as her mission for the weekend -- getting me settled into the apartment I'd been living in for a year, but hadn't yet had the strength or the help I needed to make into a home. This woman held my hand on the ferry to IKEA, hauled flatpacks onto flatbeds and was visibly frustrated that while she helped me find just about everything I needed, she didn't succeed in getting me a headboard for my bed. She and my dad, who also flew up to lend a hand to the rescue-Kamy mission, spent hours building bookshelves, assembling cabinets, and hanging lamps. She made multiple trips to the hardware store. She used a power drill. She cut out newspaper sqaures the size of the art I'd never hung on the walls so I could decide where I wanted it. And on my birthday, she and my dad spent the day chopping, slicing and cooking a feast for eight people (and two little boys: mine) to create the first-ever dinner party in the apartment was finally, after a very long, very difficult year in my life, beginning to feel like home.
Rescue mission: accomplished.
Kimberly Wicoff, thanks for having my back.
Now tell us: who's got yours?
Comment
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Comment by Sean McAfee on July 22, 2010 at 3:23pm -
Wow, I just arrived at 9:15 (mountain time) this morning! To quote the imitable Maxwell Smart - "Missed it by that much.
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Comment by Linda Rash Pilkington on July 22, 2010 at 3:08pm -
Sorry for the error, the blog with my thanks and shout out to all those who have been there for me is: http://www.citycastles.com/herald/?P=48 Now you see why I need someone who has got my back. Linda Rash Pilkington
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Comment by Carleen on July 22, 2010 at 3:03pm -
Like everyone else, I am lucky to have many, many women who have had my back the last few years. I must shout out Marisol Simon as my first reader, editor, cheerleader. And also my agent Victoria Sanders who has been behind me every step of the way and has provided every kind of support to me.
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Comment by Linda Rash Pilkington on July 22, 2010 at 3:01pm
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Greetings to Heather Gordon Young! Hearty Congratulations to She Writes! I'm clearing my desk, and looking forward to more involvement with your/our group. My somebody's got my back comment, is a shoutout to friends from years gone by, some gone from my life, who have loved me and helped me during many rough patches. I can never repay them. Recently at my book's delayed (by fate's intervention & the recession) book launch, friends banded together and worked on my behalf to make the event a success. It was simply their goodness--& kindness that was so admirable that called them do this for me. I shout out thanks to them...one is Andi Pearson, educator, speaker and writer, and also a member of She Writes, who spoke at my event on June 26th. The post that mentions more women who have got my back.. this circle of friends & friendly people is on my blog at : http://www.citycatles.com/herald/?P=48 or go to http://www.citycastles.com click on Herald & on The Book Launch; is it necessary? Thank you, She Writes, for letting me thank them! Linda Rash Pilkington
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Comment by Alethea O Brown on July 22, 2010 at 3:00pm -
Your description of settling into a home and having incomparable aid and support are a wonderful juxtapose to what this group does.
Congratulations on the 10,000 - here's to many more.
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Comment by Julia Ballerini on July 22, 2010 at 2:32pm
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A shout out to Maria DiBattista - my savior over and again in life and literature and the one who introduced me to She Writes!
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Comment by Marsha Browne on July 22, 2010 at 2:32pm -
A big shout out to THREE of my writing sisters--Lynne Barrett (who encouraged me to become part of this), Paula Scardamalia, and Zita Christian!
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Comment by Edie Weinstein on July 22, 2010 at 2:27pm
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So many wonderful, wise, powerful, amazing women! The first is my mother Selma Weinstein, who is not on any of the social media networks, so she won't see this. She has always been my most ardent cheerleader, telling me I could do and be anything I set my heart on and put work into. Her words of wisdom.."Walk in like you own the joint." have kept me company in every circumstance. It took many years for me to fully embody that idea, but at 51, I finally got it1
My cousin, Jody Weiner-Rosenblum who is on facebook:) has been my 'older and wiser cousin' all my life and has never failed to offer from the heart advice and a solid, listening ear when I have needed it. Her sense of silliness is a family trait and we have spent plenty of laughing 'til we could barely breathe times.
My friend and mentor, Yvonne Kaye, also on facebook has been a loving and sometiimes kickass presence for more than 20 years. Her humorous and irreverent guidance has kept me on track, as were her words "Discipline is freedom" when I most needed them.
To these WWW's Wild (or Wise) Wondrous Women....I love you BIG! <3 Bliss Mistress
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Comment by Marjorie Robertson on July 22, 2010 at 2:20pm -
A shout out to my older sister, Maggie (Aisha), and friend, who has survived abuse, divorce, and cancer, yet manages to have my back. My heroine!
I love SheWrites and the Salonniere.
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Comment by Tanya Egan Gibson on July 22, 2010 at 2:09pm -
A shout-out to my dear friend, and amazing writer, Kim Culbertson, who I always trust and who always has my back!
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