Rita was only 20 when she found her voice…

I love it when I hear from my readers! This letter came to me after Rita read about Vicki Sherpa. I’m not changing anything - Why would I? I want to give all of you the chance to meet this remarkable woman!

***********************

Ginny:

Memories surface with a story to tell. My name is Rita Holgers. Thank

you for this opportunity to share, my peers at age 92 are few and far

between to listen.

I graduated high school in Elmhurst, Illinois the year was 1951. I was

hired to start working for Public Service Company in Maywood, Illinois

the same day. I am reminded of the young girls in the Bregdan Chronicles

as I felt it was important for companies to pay equal pay for equal work.

During my third year working for Public Service Co. (an electric company)

I found my voice. We were paid $2.12 per hour in 1953, working 40 hours

a week. Gas for the car was 27 cents a gallon, coffee 10 cents a cup.

My voice presented itself when an issue came up regarding the work

schedule for overtime. Needless to say, overtime was designed for a man.

When I asked my supervisor why women did not have this opportunity

to earn extra money. The supervisor told me men have to support a

family. They need the extra money. Women to not support a family so

they do not need to work overtime.

If a girl became engaged and soon to be married, she received notice that

when she married, she had to quit working for the company.

I brought the equal pay issue to my supervisor. I reminded him the male

worker who was given all the overtime in my department was not married.

He lived with him parents in the family home. He acted surprised!

He tried to show the wording in the administrative directive binder to me

so I would understand why the male was given the overtime. Overtime

paid time and a half per hour. This work was done on Saturday when

very few employees were in the building.

I reminded my supervisor that we employees were union members and believed in equal pay for equal work. I believe he acknowledged my

bringing this to his attention when he announced a new schedule for

overtime work for his department. All employees in the department

would be included in the overtime schedule on a rotating basis.

1953, I was 20 years old. Today at age 92 I honor my boldness to

bring the issue to the proper supervisor instead of only complaining

to fellow women employees.

Some stories need to be in the light and told through the generations.

Sincerely,

Rita, I am a Bregdan Woman

****************

YES you are, Rita! Thank you for sharing your story with me.

Thank you for initiating an action that helped lead to the changes in labor law, in how women are treated, and what they believe about the rights and freedoms we deserve.

To those of you reading - things still aren’t EQUAL. No matter where you live in the world, women continue to fight for Equal Rights.

People continue to fight for Equal Rights.

How will you use YOUR voice today? Who will you speak up for?

It might be for yourself.

It might be for someone else in your country.

It might be for someone else in the world.

Rita’s decision to speak out changed things for her fellow employees - causing a company to change a policy that had a ripple effect for so many people.

You can do the same!

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Today’s story has a positive ending but it starts with an abuse trigger warning. Hang with me… you’ll be glad you did.

“Shut up!” Wham! Slap! Scream!

If only these words were sound effects from a movie… They weren’t. It was the life Paula lived.

How had she ever gotten to this place in her life? The fear for herself and her children was worse than the physical and emotional pain. The panic welled up inside again as she realized what she had to do.

For 14 years, Bregdan Woman Paula Lucas, experienced the horror as she and her children were terribly misused and abused by her husband. As a United States citizen living abroad, her choices were limited. Living in the Middle East, she had no one to ask for help.

Paula knew if she abandoned her marriage, and got caught before reaching U.S. soil, she faced imprisonment and would never see or hug her children again. But those risks had to be taken. Paula knew it was up to her to get her kids and herself to safety.

Day after day - for 14 years - Paula wondered how to escape.

How to survive.

Night after night she cried on the inside . . . pleading for answers that never came.

“I have to get away. How can I leave? Can I make it back to the U.S.? How? When?”

“Help me!”

The plea went unheard and unanswered.

These thoughts ran through her mind time after time. Fear, loneliness, anguish, and despair mixed around the love she sometimes still felt toward her husband. The cycles of abuse and care waxed and waned like the lunar pull of the moon.

The care of the children during the day kept her mind occupied. . . at least when things were calm. The nights were hard. Her children’s cries and fears always magnified themselves in the stillness of the night.

Her three boys were four, six, and eight. She was the only one who could save them.

Paula knew she had to escape.

She tried for two years to get help from the American Embassy. They did little more than smile sympathetically and pat her on the back. It was clear she was on her own.

Frantic on the inside but patient on the outside, Paula waited until her husband was gone on a business trip, and then began the search for their passports. He had hidden them to keep her and the kids inside the confines of both the house and the border. Terrified and desperate, she felt defeated, but she hadn’t given up.

Anguish took over as she ransacked her home in the search. Finally, trembling with panic, she discovered the passports. A tiny glimmer of hope gradually rekindled in her heart. Knowing her time was limited; she packed one suitcase for her and her 3 boys.

The night before their departure, she made a promise to God: if they survived, she would dedicate her life to helping other American women and children facing violence abroad.

Risking prison if caught, she took all her courage and walked out of the nightmare, onto a plane, and eventually into freedom in the United States of America.

Don’t misunderstand me - Freedom didn’t equal easy.

Paula escaped the abuse, but ran straight into poverty in the richest country in the world. Penniless and owning nothing, she started over.

She started fighting again, but this time it was with the U.S. government. Due to the regulations of coming “home” and the bureaucratic red tape, she found herself homeless and fighting for the custody and safety of her kids yet again. Her husband fought to gain custody of his children.

The freedom she longed for remained elusive.

Paula spent many more nights wondering, “Will I get to keep my kids? Will we ever get out of this shelter? How many more women are just like me living abroad . . . all over the world with no one to call? I need help. They need help.”

Fortunately, Paula was a fighter.

She quickly realized that no organization existed to help U.S. women leaving abusive situations abroad. There was no help for these women desperately needing to come home.

While homeless, Paula worked nights to take care of her kids.

The days, she devoted to helping women living around the world. Even though homeless, her dream eventually became reality.

She founded the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (AODVC), while living in that women’s shelter.

Wow! That is definitely a Bregdan Woman action!

In 2012 she launched the Sexual Assault Support & Help For Americans Abroad Program (SASHAA). Paula established the American Domestic Violence Crisis Line. This organization is the only one with a world-wide international toll-free crisis hotline: 866-USWOMEN.

Research shows that 4-5 million U.S. citizens live abroad. This non-profit organization supports an estimated 50,000 of those women and children who are suffering abuse; that number of abused woman and children is only an estimate.

Paula’s deep passion to reach these suffering women did not happen overnight. She lost a few battles, but eventually she won a large part of the war against abusive isolation. American women anywhere in the world can call to receive counsel and real help. Her survival ensures hope to anyone who needs it.

Paula’s thoughts at night still call out for help; although now it is a voice calling out to her on behalf of strangers in foreign lands - women unknown to her by name, but united in spirit. This little dynamo of a woman has overcome huge obstacles.

Paula determined to live and to help others live. She succeeded because she did not quit. She is no longer homeless. Not even a bout with cancer has slowed her down. Paula continues to give and give.

As the 2005 Volvo Corporation Hero for LIFE award winner, Paula Lucus’ dream is still to ensure the safety of woman and children everywhere. She never dreamed of winning anything with her life’s work. . . except her own life. in 2013, she wrote her memoir Harvesting Stones recounting her journey of survival. She knew deep within that reaching out to other women would help secure her own future.

Today, Paula continues to lead as a certified life coach and global speaker, helping individuals discover meaning through adversity. She encourages people not only to heal from their challenges but to use them as catalysts for personal growth and transformation—ultimately becoming sources of strength, hope, and empowerment for others.

Isn’t that a key factor in happiness? Reaching out to people?

Knowing that every action you take will ripple throughout history?

Big or small - every action is a vital part of history.

Nothing in this life is as precious or valuable as when we are reaching out to others.

Who can you reach out to today?

I promise that if you sit for a minute and think about it, you’ll know who needs to hear from you, or receive help.

If you are struggling, take a small step toward someone else. Eventually, your steps will lead you to a better place.

Today, if you feel alone, please know that you are not alone.

Remember:

If you are a U.S. citizen living abroad in an abusive situation, there is help: please call the International Toll-Free Crisis Hotline: 866-USWOMEN

*********************

What will you do today to be a Bregdan Woman?

How will you impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Here are some things I believe all women need to know…

Life never needs to be boring or purposeless.

Life is not just about accumulating things, making money or having influence.

Life is about fulfilling your purpose. Your purpose is simple. It is doing what you love to do.

Many times, but not always, it is doing it in a way that helps many other people.

So many people think their purpose is an evasive thing that can never truly be discovered. I don’t agree.

I think your purpose is simple…

It is doing what you love to do.

I’m here to tell you about one Bregdan Woman who took bold steps to do what made her happy. Her name is Victoria Subirana (later known as Vicki Sherpa)

Raised in Ripoll, Catalonia (in Spain) Vicki had a rapacious appetite for learning. As a child, Vicki giggled while the other students clapped their hands over their ears when chalk squeaked on the black board. She found it funny that almost everyone else found that squeak unpleasant. It didn’t bother her. It meant that she was learning!

Vicki always knew she would add her own chalk squeaks to the world of school chalkboards – She was going to teach. She was certain of it.

Little did she know where she’d end up teaching, and the thousands of lives she would change.

She could not study and learn enough. Everything she learned made her hungry to know more. After graduating from her local university, she taught kindergarten in Spain for ten years.

When her hunger for learning kicked in again, she attended graduate classes at various universities. Her Master’s degree came from Michigan State University in the USA.

With her education behind her, she knew there was something very special she was meant to do. But what?

It all began with a fascination of Nepal. She heard and read about it but had never visited. The fascination became a longing. Then a necessity.

Here are some things you should know about Nepal back in the 80’s. Nepal is a multiethnic, multicultural society with an 80% illiteracy rate. The vast majority of people can’t read.

There is no teacher training in Nepal and no obligatory education. Many of the children in the poorest families have to work and are never able to go to school. With a population of approximately 20 million, one million children in Nepal under the age of 14 have to work for very little in return.

And then this fact - the one that broke my heart… 200,000 children, as young as eight years old, are forced into child prostitution rings in India to help pay off family debts.

When Vicki arrived in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal in 1988, she was shocked at the poverty, the terrible living conditions, and lack of education for so many children. Those images burned her heart and mind especially when she returned home.

The dreams of the street children fueled her thoughts of what she could do for these young minds. Her desires endured to return to Nepal and teach.

One year later, haunted by the visions of Kathmandu, Vicki moved to Nepal to learn the country’s language and culture firsthand. She wound up founding (as Bregdan Women do) her first of many schools -- Dorgee School. That founding school began with merely 32 children- refugees from Tibet.

Vicki poured her heart and soul into making a difference in these children’s lives. The challenge filled her with joy, purpose, and a determination to do even more.

But then life kicked her in the teeth and presented her with a challenging decision.

Just one year after arriving, with her project well underway, Nepalese authorities denied her a work permit. She would have to close her school and forget her dreams.

The parents of the children in her classes, however, were so pleased with her work that they suggested she marry one of the members of the community to be allowed to stay in the country. Vicki had serious doubts about the solution, but she couldn’t come up with a better one.

A stream of candidates lined up for selection in a country where arranged marriages are quite common. Wondering, I’m sure, if she was out of her mind, Victoria finally married Ang Kami Sherpa and took the name Vicki Sherpa.

She traveled back and forth from Spain - arranging funding and recruiting teachers who would train Nepali teachers.

Four years later, steeped in the culture and language of Nepal, she was ready to serve the poorest of the poor – the people that truly tugged on her heartstrings.

Vicki started another school: the Daleki School in Kathmandu for the most impoverished children: teaching them their culture, history and traditions.

“Teacher, Teacher… there is a girl here... She has nowhere to go.” With that innocent, simple plea, Vicki’s heart grew even bigger.

Her purpose expanded.

Abandoned in a market in Kathmandu, a vulnerable little 7-year-old girl with disabilities was brought into Vicki’s room at the school. What did this Bregdan Woman do?

In response to yet another need in her adopted country, she opened another school/center: the Reception Center. The Reception Center provides housing and medical attention to children with special needs as well as educational support to help the children attend schools.

It’s not hard to see why the people loved Vicki and turned to her when there was a need. Nepal had become part of Vicki, even as she had become part of Nepal… but it still wasn’t enough!

Vicki was unstoppable. Her huge heart moved her beyond Nepal to the lands of Pakistan and Bangladesh, where she set up more schools.

Schools for the poorest of the poor.

Vicki was doing what she loved to do! What made her happy!

Vicki has been honored, given numerous awards, loudly applauded, and internationally revered. Her Daleki School is now an international model school.

Yet when you hear Vicki speak about her sole achievement, her greatest reward and her soul satisfying accomplishment – it is knowing she made a difference.

She touched people’s lives and offered tangible hope for their future.

Her decisions and actions impacted nations and altered the course of history for countless children and families.

What is the key to Vicki’s life?

This Bregdan Woman simply did what she loved.

She taught.

The secret to success is not a secret. We’ve heard the cliché:

“…. find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

It is a true statement.

I live it every day as I write my books and create these letters. I don’t work - I do what I love! I do what makes me happy!

Ask yourself, as a Bregdan Woman, what do you love?

Set your heart and mind, energy and vision on doing that thing. You will do what you love and love what you do.

We hope you remember Vicki with each step you take toward living the life you dream.

**********************

And as always… What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you…

Ginny

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Ponder this as you go through your day…

I remind myself of this every single day.

Here’s a question for you as you ponder…

If you believe this is true, how would this change how you’re living your life TODAY? TOMORROW??

See you tomorrow with another letter about an amazing Bregdan Woman!

Ginny

Leave a comment

It’s time to finish Alice Paul’s story! It comes back to the Silent Sentinels in front of the White House who refused to stop their protests despite the reality of entering World War I.

Welcome to part 3 of Alice Paul’s story. It’s one EVERY woman (no matter where you live) should know.

If you’re just jumping in, you’ll want to read Monday’s and Wednesday’s letters.

Over 2000 women, known as Sentinels of Liberty, joined with Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party at the White House protests. Every Sentinel of Liberty is one of my heroines.

Alice, as a Quaker, rejected violence of any kind. Though she had been involved with the Pankhurst Women in England, shattering her fair share of windows, when she returned to the US, she chose to embrace civil disobedience instead.

The other branch of the Suffragist movement, the one Alice had split from, threw its support behind the war effort, abandoning the fight for women’s right to vote. The same thing had happened fifty-six years before when the Civil War broke out in 1861. The decision suffragists made to step away from the fight resulted in black men receiving the vote – while women were passed over.

Alice knew history. She had no interest in repeating it.

Nine states had given women the right to vote by 1916.

You should know what states helped pave the way:

Wyoming – 1869
Utah – 1870
Idaho – 1896
Washington – 1910
California – 1911
Oregon – 1912
Montana – 1914
Arizona – 1913
Kansas – 1912
Alaska Territory – 1912
Illinois – 1913 – First state east of the Mississippi

Clearly, women fared better in the West!

Back to Alice Paul’s battle in the East…

President Wilson supported suffrage on a state level, but he opposed the federal amendment. The women decided to aim their protests directly at him.

Their determination made them targets. They were attacked by angry mobs. They were arrested on the trumped-up charges of “obstructing traffic”. They were thrown into jail when they refused to pay fines for exercising their 1^st Amendment rights.

The arrests continued. The prison terms kept getting longer. The treatment kept getting worse.

It did nothing but inspire these determined Bregdan Women.

More determined women filled in the ranks – continuing their demonstrations for freedom.

It’s important that you know about the Night of Terror on November 14^th, 1917 – ten months into the protest.

As you read this, remember that all these women wanted was to have the right to vote – to be given a voice in their country.

In the long history of the suffrage movement, it was the most harrowing night – one that broke my heart to learn about and write about.

33 women had been arrested for their non-violent protest several days earlier. On November 14^th, they were transferred to the Occoquan Workhouse. They demanded to be treated as political prisoners.

Instead, they were forced to strip naked, sprayed with water, and given rough, dirty uniforms to wear. They were not allowed to contact their families. The food they were given was full of worms. Ugghhh!

Alice Paul, who had actually been in prison since October 22, and several others started a hunger strike to protest their treatment. After several days, guards force-fed them by holding them down and shoving tubes up their noses or down their throats. They pumped raw eggs into their bodies.

While many letters of support were sent to the prison for the women, they were never delivered. Instead, Alice Paul was given this letter:

“Why not let this miserable creature starve. The country would be much better off without her and the balance of her gang of pickets. They are a rotten lot, and are crazy, and should be locked up for life. If they would starve it would save the expense of keeping them. Let them starve.”

Remember, all they wanted was the right to vote.

It got far worse.

Prison superintendent, William Whittaker, instructed his guards to teach the women a lesson.

That’s exactly what they did. They burst into the room where the women were being held for booking, dragged them down the hall and threw them into dark, filthy cells. The women were beaten and tortured. One suffered a heart attack when she watched her friend lose consciousness after being slammed onto an iron bed. The guards refused to call a doctor.

One of the Suffragists, Lucy Burns, was handcuffed in her cell with her hands over her head. She stood there all night.

Twenty-year-old Dorothy Day, who would later launch the Catholic Worker Movement, was lifted twice by guards and slammed down over a metal bench.

The administration recognized Alice Paul as their leader. They were determined to stop her, especially. She was taken from prison and moved to a sanitorium in an attempt to have her declared insane – a strategy used against many women during this time. Her attorney intervened and secured her release.

It was a dark, dark time for a country that espouses freedom.

I could write for days about what these women suffered that night. Every time I vote, or raise my voice to be heard, I think of them.

I hope that now you will, too.

The news of what was happening was released to the press by a sympathetic member of the Wilson administration and the husband of one of the prisoners. The newspaper accounts horrified the nation.

Two weeks later, a judge ordered the prisoners released and eventually vacated their convictions.

The women went home and continued their fight. If anything, their imprisonment and the Night of Terror, strengthened their resolve.

Over the course of the White House protests, a total of 168 Suffragists were arrested and sent to jail or prison.

In front of the White House, the arrests continued. Many suffragists, including older frail women, were beaten, pushed to the ground, and thrown in cold, unsanitary, and rat-infested cells.

FINALLY, news of what was happening began to leak out of the prisons. Newspapers, even in the midst of war, reported on the hunger strikes and the conditions they were dealing with. Sympathy for the prisoners brought many to support the cause of women’s suffrage.

While President Woodrow Wilson espoused untiring advocacy of democracy around the world during World War I, he refused to take any meaningful effort to win it for the female half of his own country. Think about that…

It’s appalling that it took such brutality to turn the tide.

What was so terrifying about women’s right to have a voice in their own country?

Today… why do so few people – but especially women – know the truth about the price that was paid for our freedom to have a vote? Why did the price have to be so high?

As the truth became known, public demand grew for the women’s release – not just from the general public, but also from the press and from a growing number of politicians.

America was finally paying attention.

The women, including Alice Paul, were released, but the fight to vote was not over.

The Silent Sentinels continued to protest in front of the White House. I’m in awe of their determination and bravery!

By the end of 1917, bowing to public pressure, President Wilson was forced to reverse his position. He announced his support for a constitutional suffrage amendment. He met with members of Congress to gain support for it.

The wheels of politics usually move very slowly, but they were finally moving.

The world continued to struggle. Remember, nothing in history ever happens in a bubble. World War I did not end until November of 1918.

The Spanish Flu hit. The deadliest pandemic in world history, it infected some 500 million people across the globe. That is roughly one third of the entire human population at the time. 50 million people died – along with 675,000 in the US.

The women refused to slow down the momentum. The Silent Sentinels continued to protest.

Even in the midst of chaos, they knew their voices must continue to be heard.

And finally… the 100 year-old-battle came to an end. Well, kinda…

Congress passed the 19^th Amendment in 1919.

It was ratified in 1920.

Every American woman was allowed to vote.

Right?

NO. Only the white women.

But that will be a story for another day.

Regardless of the long battle ahead for many American women, Alice Paul and the courageous women who fought with her, accomplished what women had fought for since 1820.

The Right to Vote!

Alice Paul, a powerful Bregdan Woman, is an example that one person can truly impact history and make a lasting difference.

I am forever grateful to her!

I’m not quite done, however. Many suffragists left public life and activism after the 19^th Amendment was enacted.

Not Alice Paul.

She knew the true battle for legally protected gender equality had not yet been won.

With one victorious battle behind her, Alice went back to school. She earned three law degrees to better understand how legislation and laws were drafted and passed.

WOW!

Utilizing her knowledge and legal prowess, she wrote the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923.

I don’t know about you, but I had no idea…

The problem is…

Women celebrate the ERA – without realizing it NEVER PASSED. It has never been ratified to the US Constitution.

Most women don’t realize how fragile their rights are in the USA.

There are women fighting TODAY to get the ERA ratified to the Constitution.

Let the fight continue!

Back to Alice Paul. She died in 1977 at the age of 92. She never stopped fighting.

In 1985, the Alice Paul Institute was founded to honor her legacy and continue the fight for equality of ALL. The Alice Paul Institute educates and encourages women and girls to be leaders in their communities. They also lead efforts to FINALLY ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

At the end of 3 days of reading or listening, you know I’ve got questions…

Will you vote in the next elections?

Will you educate other women about the price so many women paid to grant them that right?

Will you help continue the fight to guarantee equality for women?

It all boils down to…

What will you do today to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

After being arrested, imprisoned, and force fed through tubes down her throat, Alice Paul was ready for the next step…

This is Part 2 of Alice Paul’s story. If you didn’t read Part 1, check Monday’s post. You don’t want to miss this story of one of my heroines!

Let’s keep rolling…

Alice Paul, radically changed by her time in England, returned to the USA in 1910. She was determined to increase her influence in the country. She understood the power of education to enable her to do just that.

This was a woman who didn’t do things half-way. She went all in…

She reenrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, pursued her doctorate, spoke about the British suffrage movement, and completed a dissertation – a comprehensive overview of the history of the legal status (or the lack thereof) of women in the USA.

Of course she did…

Her dissertation completed; she joined the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. She had experience and credentials, and she was determined to get America’s attention with her radical deeds.

Don’t forget the motto that had driven her during her time in England.

DEEDS NOT WORDS

Alice took charge of working for a federal suffrage amendment. The NAWSA was working toward enfranchisement state by state, but Alice’s vision was much bigger. She put her focus on the federal amendment.

Alice wasn’t satisfied with women gaining rights state by state, because that strategy assured the possibility those rights could also be taken away. She was focused on getting it ALL.

Her goal was a constitutional amendment.

Two years after her return, she initiated and organized a publicity event guaranteed to gain maximum national attention.

The women succeeded – but paid a high price.

Here’s what happened…

More than eight thousand courageous women joined a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue on March 13, 1913 – the day before President-elect Woodrow Wilson’s inaugural parade. It was the first civil rights march on Washington, DC in American history.

It’s fair to say every woman who participated was a Bregdan Woman.

Alice Paul had worked tirelessly to make the event a perfect day – an example of the passion women had for the vote.

I want you to read slowly, so that you can envision what actually happened that day.

Eight thousand women gathered with signs, banners, and determined courage. They were laughing and talking, but that didn’t cover their nervousness. As they looked down the route, they saw the angry, equally determined looks on the men who lined Pennsylvania Avenue. They were prepared for pushback, but they hadn’t anticipated what happened.

Washington, DC was full of men enraged by the audacity of women believing they should be able to vote. Who did they think they were? The place of women in the USA, at that time, was to support the men who knew best. Ugghh!

The men were determined to stop the parade. No matter what it took.

Within minutes of the parade starting, it turned into a full-scale riot. The crowd of men began to shout insults and obscenities. The yelling and ridicule quickly turned into physical violence and assault. The women were grabbed, spat on, tripped, and shoved to the ground.

I can easily imagine their terror as enraged men attacked them from all sides and angles.

They kept marching, picking themselves up and forging ahead.

Police officers merely stood by and watched as thousands of women were assaulted. Some of the police participated.

It was a sad, terrible moment in the history of the USA.

Alice had feared opposition and knew the police would probably not protect them. She had insisted calvary troops be on standby. Finally, D.C. officials called them in.

The calvary pushed back the rioting men and opened the way for the women to continue. When they eventually reached Continental Hall, hours behind schedule, every woman was some combination of filthy, battered, exhausted, unnerved, insulted, furious and freezing.

Over one hundred had to be hospitalized.

Thousands went home with cuts, bruises, and bloodied clothing.

In my book, every woman there was a heroine. A powerful Bregdan Woman.

Alice had been horrified by what happened, but it didn’t take her long to realize the riot was the best thing that could have happened.

A perfect parade would have been in the papers for a day.

Instead, the suffrage riot was in the headlines for weeks. Editorials denounced the behavior of the crowd. A Congressional Committee held hearings on what went wrong.

While the women recovered from the beatings; suffrage took front and center stage for both politicians and the general public.

It also revealed descension within the ranks.

The Washington March showed that Alice Paul was more than willing to push the bounds of convention. It energized a new generation of activists and sowed the seeds for more visible and aggressive tactics over the next years.

DEEDS NOT WORDS

Let’s look at how this Bregdan Woman’s actions impacted history…

The 1913 parade set the stage for thousands of political marches to follow: every civil rights group that has marched on Washington, every activist who has paraded through the corridors of federal power to gain attention for their cause, every energetic citizen who has rallied in the shadow of the Capitol, has literally followed in the footsteps of these courageous Bregdan Women.

Not for the first time, the differing opinions of women fighting for Suffrage created conflict. Alice Paul’s approach was considered by many other women to be too radical.

The end result was that Alice Paul separated from NAWSA and formed a new party in 1916 - the National Woman’s Party (NWP).

After almost 100 years of women fighting for the right to vote, she was determined to do whatever it took.

The National Woman’s Party took quick action to create public attention. In early 1917, they organized the first public picketing in front of the White House in the nation’s history.

Until Alice took action, no one (especially a woman!) had dared to publicly protest the President of the US in such a manner. The sheer audacity was breath-takingly awesome!

Deeds Not Words!

Alice knew radical times demanded radical action. She definitely got the attention she was after!

For me… I learned how grateful I should be for my right to vote! I thought I knew a lot about the fight for suffrage. I’ve learned so much writing about Alice Paul!

The NWP women called themselves the Silent Sentinels. They stood quietly outside the White House in non-violent protest. They didn’t speak or interact with bystanders – they simply held their banners. Six days a week, no matter the weather.

The banners asked, “Mr. President, How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty?”

In the beginning, President Wilson treated the women with bemused condescension. Suffrage for women was not something he supported.

Here’s something you need to understand…

During the suffrage battle, there was much going on in the world. Nothing happens in a bubble.

World War I broke out in 1914. Millions were wounded or dying across the ocean. President Wilson proclaimed USA neutrality. Many Americans supported this policy of nonintervention. So far, war hadn’t reached the shores of the USA.

American’s feelings began to change, however, when a German U-boat sank the British ocean liner, Lusitania, in 1915. Almost 2000 people died – including 128 Americans. When a telegram was revealed that threatened an alliance between Germany and Mexico against America, Wilson asked Congress to declare war.

Americans were not interested in entering a foreign war. It took a year of persuading.

During all this time, the Silent Sentinels continued their protest.

America continued to be impacted by the war abroad. With the toll in sunken U.S. merchant ships and civilian casualties rising, America entered World War I in April of 1917.

Calls for unity and patriotism rang through America. Few believed the suffragists would dare picket a wartime president. They didn’t know Alice Paul.

Alice was determined to maintain momentum. As far as she was concerned, now was the perfect time to challenge President Wilson. Why was he calling for support of Democracy abroad, but not providing full democracy at home?

It was a valid question.

It was a question that deserved answers, but not everyone saw it that way.

Alice’s decision to continue the protest created horrific scenarios.

I’m not going to tell you today, however.

Yes, Alice Paul’s story is a 3 –parter. Hey, I’m a novelist. I could diminish the story by shortening it, or I can tell you the rest of the story on Friday! Obviously, that is the choice I’m making.

I hope that as you read or listen, you’re being as challenged as I was when I wrote it.

So, until tomorrow…

What will you do to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Alice Paul is one of my heroines!

The problem with writing letters about Bregdan Women lies in making the daily decision regarding who to tell you about – and when. I regret there are women you won’t hear about for months, or even years. They are no less important than the women you’ll hear about in the beginning. It also means, however, that I’ll never run out of women to write about! I have about 800 already queued up to write about!

I’ve been telling you about a lot of contemporary women. Today, I’m going to dive into the past.

It’s beyond important to shine the light on women who were brave enough to fight the battles that got us to where we are right now. The battles we fight today are difficult, but who laid the foundations that give us the ability to fight?

Alice Paul, born in 1885, was one of them.

Alice was born, and raised, as a Quaker. Even in 1885, gender equality was a central tenant of their religious philosophy and practice. Believing women are equal with men was simply a reality of life for her.

To say her childhood was definitely not the norm for the late 1800’s would be a massive understatement. It meant that at some point, Alice was going to smash into the differing gender beliefs that were the norm in the USA at that time. Women were not equal with men. They most certainly were not given a voice in American politics.

The Suffrage movement, officially started in 1848, but actually begun in 1820, was created to give women the right to vote.

That meant Alice had her own heroines. As I continue writing letters, you’ll learn more about Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott. Both of them were also Quakers. More importantly, they were leaders of the early suffrage movement that rocked the USA before, during, and after the American Civil War. They were two of Alice’s heroines.

Sadly, the Suffrage battle raged on for almost 100 years. Both Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott died before they could experience the success of their fight. So did thousands of other women who fought for the rights you now have to cast your vote and have a voice.

Like with any long-term battle, suffrage eventually fell into the hands of younger women. Alice Paul was one of them – only she didn’t start with that intention.

Like most of us, she followed an unpredictable path to determine her life’s purpose.

After graduating from college in 1901, she moved to New York City and threw herself into social work within Quaker settlements. She already believed in women’s right to vote, but the suffragist movement had faltered in the USA.

Eighty years into the battle, the Suffrage leadership was disheartened and discouraged. There was disagreement and infighting on how to proceed. Progress had ground to a halt.

I’m sure the American’s fighting women’s right to vote were cheering and celebrating.

Alice Paul wanted to vote but she wasn’t involved in the fight.

Not yet, anyway…

In 1907, when she was in her mid twenties, Alice moved to Birmingham, England to continue social work within the Quaker framework. What she experienced there transformed her from a reserved Quaker girl into a militant suffragist.

How that happened is such a great story!

While in England, she met Cristabel Pankhurst. Englishmen weren’t any more positive about voting rights than America was. Men aren’t fond of giving up control!

Cristabel, the daughter of England’s best-known suffragist (Emmeline Pankhurst), was speaking to a crowd on the streets about voting rights for women. She was heckled, jeered, and forced from the stage by the unruly crowd. Alice, horrified by what she saw, pushed her way through the crowd to meet the young woman.

Their ensuing friendship introduced her to the concept of “Deeds Not Words”.

Deeds Not Words. This concept grabbed my respect before I continued my research. I wholeheartedly agree that words mean nothing if they aren’t accompanied by DEEDS.

The Pankhurst Women, created by Emmeline and her daughters, Cristabel & Sylvia, were determined to gain voting rights for women in England. They didn’t believe prayer, petitions, and patience were enough to gain suffrage for women. They decided to engage in much more, shall we say, direct measures.

Their more direct measures included heckling, window smashing and rock throwing. The “good girl” method wasn’t working, so they took rather extreme methods to raise public awareness. It worked – giving them front-page coverage in many London newspapers. Slowly, public opinion began to change. More women joined their efforts.

Alice, inspired by their courage and determination, joined the Pankhurst Movement. She was proud of the number of windows she smashed!

Of course, Alice’s actions, along with the other women’s, came at a cost. She was beaten and arrested on several occasions. She was imprisoned. When she and the other women protested their confinement with hunger strikes, they were subjected to brutal force feedings – painful feedings tubes forced down their throats while being physically restrained.

She fought the battle alongside the Pankhurst women for three years before returning to the United States. She came home with the belief that the Pankhurst methods were working – that the people of England had been lifted from their lethargy in regard to women’s right to vote.

She arrived back in the USA, determined to reshape and re-energize the stalled battle for women’s right to vote. It was time for the Suffrage Movement to gain new life.

I’m sure Alice knew in advance there would be a heavy price to pay, but I suspect she didn’t know quite how heavy it would be. Not that any price would have changed her choices.

That’s enough for today. Instead of giving you more than you have time to read, I’ve decided to make Alice’s story a “3 Parter”. Some stories aren’t meant to be pared down to make for quick reading. You’ll read the next part of Alice’s saga on Wednesday!

If you believe other women should read these letters, please share them. They will always be free! Help me reach millions of women around the world!

**********************
As you go through the day, ask yourself…

What will you do to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

I promised you 3 letters this week - the reason you’re getting this on Sunday!

I find Bregdan Women everywhere I go. Everywhere I look. The world is full of them. I’ll never be able to write about all of them, but I’m certainly going to try!

I don’t know how Versana Polidore ended up as a Facebook friend, but I’m forever grateful she did. I had been watching this Bregdan Woman’s posts for a while. One particular post prompted me to ask if I could interview her for my readers.

She said YES!

I eagerly called her at the allotted date and time.

As we talked, I could hear background voices – congratulations, good byes, laughter. It sounded like a party. It was! The day she agreed to speak with me was also the day she retired. We began talking at the end of her huge, loud, loving “happy retirement” party.

I was so honored that she was willing to share her passion with me that day. It seemed perfectly fitting!

Versana is known as Vee.

Vee tried very hard to ignore her DNA and walk away from what she has done for almost thirty years.

Vee comes from a LONG line of teachers. I mean LONG…

Her mother taught for 32 years.

Her father taught for 10 years.

Her grandmother was teaching by the time she was 19. The year was 1931. She spent her life teaching – retiring at 65. 46 years!

Her great-grandmother taught the freed slaves in Reconstruction.

Are you getting the picture here?

Educating and teaching is simply in her DNA – as it has been for centuries!

Regardless, Vee didn’t plan on being a teacher. She had no interest in college. During high school, she worked at the local library. She loved it and continued working there after she graduated.

I need to jump back for a moment, because another part of this story is very important. It’s crucial to know that all of Vee’s relatives taught in Louisiana.

Why is this important? Because…

Louisiana is a tough place to teach. If you’re African American, it’s even tougher. I’ve written often about the reality of racism in Louisiana in my historical novels. The violence and heartache of Reconstruction was followed by years of darkness when African Americans once more had their rights stripped away.

I think often about Vee’s great-grandmother, and the courage it took to teach through those years of violence, lynching and hatred.

The same violence, lynching and hatred her grandmother taught through.

The violence of the Civil Rights Movement, when her parents were teaching.

It’s not an exaggeration to say every day they walked into a classroom was a risk.

I wish I could say Louisiana is a different place today. There are certainly people fighting to change things, but racism, hatred and violence remain pervasive. It can be a tough place to live if you’re black.

Brave teachers continue to teach and offer opportunities to their students.

Back to Vee… How did she finally become a teacher?

After working in the library, she decided she wanted to operate a daycare center. NOT teach! She needed certification, so she began the required classes.

The world can thank her certification teacher for directing her back to her roots. He recognized the passion and greatness in Vee. It took him a while, but he finally convinced her to go to college to become a teacher.

Her journey to become a teacher began.

In Louisiana, of course.

It took Vee five years to get her degree – graduating in December 1995.

She knew her family heritage had taught her what should happen in order for students to get a good education. She may not have wanted to become a teacher, but the lessons she had learned from her family were engrained in her heart and soul.

Once she made the choice, being a teacher was simply who she was. She poured herself into it with all the passion she had.

In her thirty years in the classroom, she taught every grade level and every age.

She started in an elementary school – giving as much love as she did education. She gave as many hugs as she did lessons. One year, her class nickname was Vee’s Bees. It stuck through the decades! 😊

I know I would have loved being one of Vee’s Bees!

Teachers were my life savers during my youth. I’m so glad Vee’s students had her!

When she considered retirement in 2019, the elementary principal, who had recently moved to high school principalship, convinced her she simply couldn’t retire.

The Louisiana school system needed Vee!

She allowed herself to be convinced, teaching high school students with special needs for 2 years. Again, she dispensed as much love as she did education – changing so many lives along the way.

She eyed retirement again…

The middle-school principal stepped in this time, convincing her to stay on for two more years.

Remember me saying I found her in my Facebook feeds? Her posts about her middle school students were what enamored me. She loves her students. Equally important, they love HER!

And let her know.

They recognize what a gift she has been to their lives.

I asked Vee what she wishes she could tell every teacher. She could have spoken volumes if we had had the time. I hope someday she writes a book! What she summarized as her teaching advice has the potential to change both teacher’s and student’s lives.

Oh, I deeply hope that teachers everywhere embrace Vee’s wisdom.

“Don’t ever diminish your inner light. Too many people are conditioned to lower their light, so they won’t outshine, offend, or set others back. NO! You should shine BRIGHTER in order to give others the light to see.”

“My students loved me because I loved them!”

“Always remember… you’re planting the seed. It won’t bloom right then but keep planting and taking care. I promise you’ll see the harvest!”

This one is my favorite…

“You can’t teach respect. You do the respectable thing. The kids will grow to respect you.”

And another favorite…

“We get tired sometimes from all the encouraging and supporting, but we rise by lifting others.”

Now THAT is a Bregdan Woman!

The number of lives she has touched is amazing.

The ripples of each of these lives will continue throughout history. The impact will be experienced through generations – going back to a loving teacher who gave all she had to give!

In retirement, she continues to give and impact as many lives as she can. I still enjoy her Facebook posts!

I sent Vee this letter before I sent it to you to make sure I was communicating what she had shared with me. She gave me the thumbs up and then asked me to add this very important comment:

“I would like for you to add a P.S. to it from after our conversation. The governor of Louisiana has signed an order for every classroom in Louisiana to display The 10 Commandments. Over a 29 ½ year career I have taught students to learn how to embrace others that have different beliefs than you do. Please continue your efforts to be a voice for the voiceless.”

I couldn’t possibly agree with her more! It’s not that I have a problem with the 10 Commandments. My problem lies in the separation of church and state here in the United States of America.

Do your own research to see what is happening in Louisiana now about that law. It’s highly contested in the courts. It will be an issue for a long time.

Back to Vee…

Go back and re-read her quotes. Which one of them is your favorite?

Why?

How will it change how you live in the world?

Please share this with as many teachers as you can!

**********************

And, of course, your daily question…

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

I’m starting with a question today…

How Many Skins Have You Shed??

Huh? I can see the befuddled look on your face. It probably matches mine right this minute.

I seriously need to take a break from working on my newest novel. I love what I do more than I could possibly express, but there are times when writing the history of our nation is very disturbing. Being faced with the cruel reality of human nature demands I dive into lots of solitude so I can balance out people’s actions with the compassion of a higher being. I truly believe that even in the darkest of times there is hope and grace to light the way, but there are times we have to really search to find it!

As Bregdan Women, we need to commit to searching for light in the darkness!

I decided to take a break today and search for the light and grace, knowing that I can’t communicate it unless I totally immerse myself in it! I went digging back through some things I’ve written in the past. When I found this, a broad smile spread across my face as one of the miracles of nature embraced me with its wonder – and then challenged me on my journey to becoming a Bregdan Woman. I hope it does the same for you!

Back to my original question…

How Many Skins Have You Shed??

One morning I woke up dreaming of Monarch Butterflies. It was such a great dream! My love of monarchs developed when I was a 20-year-old college student on a fall weekend camping trip in the North Carolina mountains with a college professor. At one point during the weekend, he ordered us all to climb to the top of a mountain and lay down in the tall grasses of the meadow top. Silently. Mystified, we did as he said, settled down in the grass, and waited quietly.

I laid down next to my boyfriend. We held hands, but we followed directions and didn’t speak. That in itself was something of a miracle! I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was blown away by what happened.

Soon the air was filled with hundreds, and then thousands, of
monarch butterflies on their annual pilgrimage - migrating south to Mexico. I will never forget the beautiful monarchs flying over our faces, settling down in the grass, resting on our bodies, delighting us with their beauty. I was mesmerized by what I had seen but I still didn’t have much knowledge. I just knew I was in love!

Oh, I knew about the “miracle” of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, but my knowledge was sparse for more than 30 years. After my dream I decided to do some digging. The power of the Internet is truly an amazing thing. What I discovered as I explored from site to site absolutely amazed me. Let’s see if it does the same for you.

The Monarch butterfly hatches from a tiny little egg.

It is born as a caterpillar.

It then proceeds to do what it was designed to do at that stage. Eat. But it’s important to know it doesn’t just eat until it dives into the cocoon.

It actually sheds its skin 5 times. 5 times! It eats and grows. Then it sheds its skin.

Then it eats and grows – and sheds its skin.

It does this 3 more times; but when it sheds its skin for the 5^th time, something miraculous happens.

The 5^th skin is actually the cover for a thick mucus substance – its cocoon!

The caterpillar sheds its skin and then waits quietly for the mucus covering to harden into a cocoon. While I was fascinated by this information, I couldn’t help digging deeper.

I Googled – What happens in the cocoon? That’s when my fascination changed to awe…

I learned that the entire cellular structure of the caterpillar is broken down into black goop – only to be recreated into a beautiful monarch butterfly capable of flying 2500 miles.

From Black Goop!

A butterfly that is somehow encoded with the information of how to get to the same nesting area that its ancestors 5 generations before nested.

Wrap your brain around that…

And then wrap your brain around…

When the butterfly emerges, the only thing that remains from the caterpillar are 3 legs. The rest is all brand new. WOW!

Here’s an interesting question.

Could that wormy caterpillar envision what it would become?

I don’t know – I just know that from the time it was born, it was equipped with everything it needed to become what it was designed to become. I also realized that the only way that caterpillar could become a monarch butterfly was to go through the wrenching process of having its entire structure broken down to become something new.

Remember the Black Goop?!

Here’s another interesting question. I wonder if they are aware of what is happening when their entire being starts to break down?

I wonder if they think their life is over and the cocoon is nothing more than a pretty tomb?

I wonder if they have any clue that this dark, scary time is actually the prelude to the most wonderful time of their life?

As I learned more I realized the miracle of the Monarch butterfly is no different from the miracle of our own lives –

IF we choose to shed the skins of our life .

IF we are willing to undergo a complete transformation - allowing our entire being to be broken down into black goop, transformed, and created into something brand new.

It’s when people refuse to change – when they refuse to shed their skin – that they become trapped in their lives, unable to move forward into what they are meant to be and do.

Here’s what I believe to be 100% true. Just as the caterpillar is born equipped with everything it needs to become what it is designed to be, I believe we are born with that same ability.

Can a caterpillar refuse to shed its skin? I don’t know, but I know humans can and DO – many times.

Can a caterpillar refuse to enter the cocoon? I don’t know. I just know humans have that choice, and way too many people refuse.

Why?

You’re scared of the change. You’re scared of the unknown.

You’re scared because you can’t see what you can become so you choose to stay who you are RIGHT NOW – completely missing out on the miracle of becoming a Monarch Butterfly capable of amazing things.

I know that in my own life I’ve had to make the choice to enter the cocoon more than once. A Monarch butterfly has a short life span. Mine is much longer. So is yours. That means the transformation stage happens time and time again, IF we allow it to.

It’s not necessarily a fun process (I mean how much fun can it be to have your entire cellular structure broken down into black goop?), but I know that each time I emerge from the cocoon I’m able to fly further and longer. I’m stronger and more able to become the person I was designed to become.

Sometimes you know when you’re crawling into the cocoon.

Other times you emerge from a particularly difficult time and realize you have been completely transformed. Only then do you realize you were in a cocoon the entire time.

The secret to the cocoon – to becoming a powerful Bregdan Woman - is being able to embrace change – to actually WANT it – instead of resist it, or run from it. I see it in people all around me.

You’re willing to do everything but CHANGE. Well, here’s the thing.

Life IS change.

Nothing stays the same. Ever. Life just doesn’t work that way. When you grasp on to what is, and refuse to allow it to be any different, you’re quite simply stifling the whole natural flow of life.

Nothing lasts forever.

The hard times will change into good times.

The good times will change into hard times.

But don’t worry – the good times will return.

From the minute you’re born, your body is changing – it is leading you to death.

There is constant change as you embrace all the seasons of your life.

Stopping it would be like trying to stop a tsunami.

I also want to tell you that the ONLY way you can lead the life you dream of is to accept, embrace and welcome the change as it comes.

**********************

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

If this letter has inspired, challenged you, or motivated you, I ask you to share it with your friends and family, or on social media. You can help me reach millions of women - my gift to the world.

Ginny

Leave a comment

Elvira couldn’t do anything to stop what was happening in her country, but she was determined to act when she witnessed horror on the farm she grew up on.

Elvira was born when her homeland of Bolivia, in central-western South America, was in constant turmoil. A military dictatorship resulted in the torture and murder of countless Bolivian citizens.

The little girl grew up working alongside her mother on the farm her father owned. She saw what happened on a daily basis. She was only six years old when she started asking questions.

“Mama, why is Daddy so mean to those people?”

“Don’t look at them, Elvira, just do your work.” Her mother spoke quickly and fearfully, keeping her eyes down so she wouldn’t attract attention. She had learned to ignore what she couldn’t control in order to survive.

Elvira couldn’t do that. She worked hard, but she saw how her father abused the other workers. It didn’t matter that she was six years old. She knew what was happening was wrong. Her indignation grew.

One day, Elvira watched one of the field hands escape by running into the woods bordering the fields. She silently hoped he got away, but that wasn’t what happened. Hiding so that she could overhear conversations, she learned her father had hunted him down with dogs, whipped him and hung him by chains in their basement.

Later that night, Elvira found her father’s keys, slipped in quietly and invisibly into that dark, dank basement, and freed the man. Beaten and bleeding, he escaped from the house and disappeared into the night – never to be found.

I’m astonished at the courage Eliva had. She was six!

Can’t you imagine how frightened she had to have been?

And how astonished and grateful the man must have been to be freed by a child?

Elvira’s courage came at a high price.

The little girl was banished from her family – ripped away from her mother and sent away to live in La Paz (Bolivia’s capitol), so her father would never have to see or speak to her again. In many ways, her banishment was a gift.

Undaunted, Elvira Alvarez grew up to carve a life as a staunch advocate for human rights and social justice. She had witnessed an atrocity that would never leave her. The memories carried her passion and zeal to right the wrongs of her society.

Elvira didn’t just see the injustices - she acted.

When her youngest child died because the local doctors refused to care for her family because they couldn’t pay, she and her husband developed affordable public health care clinics so others wouldn’t experience the same tragedy she had.

She Acted.

When she and her husband were working in an area where local miners sold their gold to an international mining company, she learned there was serious pollution of the drinking water because of the mining techniques.

She Acted.

Elvira went to work publicizing the dangerous pollution. As you can imagine, this angered the mining company. It also made local doctors angry because their patients (who paid them in gold) were choosing to visit the new health care center Elvira’s group was providing.

Elvira and her husband were accused of being subversive to the government and put into prison.

She had no access to a public defender or to family since her husband was also in prison.

She could only hold on to hope that something would change.

Finally, after transferring to a woman’s prison, a lawyer and The Assembly of Human Rights group quickly proved her innocence.

She Acted.

I love this woman!

During the seven months it took for her release, she organized the other women in the prison to demand visits to their spouses in the men’s prison. Their demand was granted.

After her release…

She Acted.

Elvira worked on getting her husband and new friends out of prison. At that time, justice in Bolivia was delayed with serious violations of human rights. In order to obtain bail, a prisoner had to put up a valuable piece of property such as a car or even their house. Most people simply did not have the resources to do that.

The law also required a rehabilitation program be in place before a prisoner would be released. Ironically, no such programs existed and people could spend months, even years in prison – waiting and forgotten.

She Acted.

Elvira developed a process to help these abandoned prisoners. Her system included the prisoner, family members, friends and a sponsor pulling together to work through the necessary requirements so the prisoner could be released.

She put together the steps a prisoner’s advocate must take; how to create and propose a rehabilitation program and carry it out; how to develop a support system for the prisoner upon his or her release; and how the prisoner could get work once out of prison.

Do you see why I am excited to tell you about this incredible Bregdan Woman?

From abandoned child… to health care activist… to prison reform activist…

She Acted.

Elvira Alvarez Ala boldly stepped into the gap on behalf of others. Her entire life has been dedicated to helping those whose freedom or rights have been ripped away.

She chose to use what life handed her and turned it around to make a difference in the lives of others.

Her determination and perseverance are a complete inspiration to me.

I hope you haven’t been wrongfully imprisoned or witnessed the atrocities that Elvira did, but I also know that not a single one of us have not witnessed injustices.

As a Bregdan Woman, you have a choice. Will you turn away and ignore what you see, or will you ACT?

It is a choice each of us has to make daily. I have several questions for you today.

What choice will you make today? Tomorrow?

What injustices can you help make right?

What actions can YOU take to make a difference for others?

**********************

What will you do to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

Sorry for the absence during the last week. I’m in a rather major transition period, but the upheaval is behind me. Yay!

You’ve got 3 letters about amazing Bregdan Woman coming this week - and all the weeks that follow. For today…

Ponder this today…

For myself - I refuse to let anyone stop me from doing what I believe I’m meant to do! People have been trying to put constraints and expectations on me my entire life. I’ve busted through everyone of them.

My great hope is that these letters and my encouragement will empower you to do the same!

Happy Sunday!

Ginny

She didn’t expect to find a miracle on an obscure mountain top. She certainly didn’t expect to find one of the secrets of how to live life.

I love this story! One of my favorite things about spring is the daffodils that bloom so profusely around the country. Depending on where you live, they may have already bloomed, or they might now be in full bloom. Look at them closely. They hold a secret.

I have a love affair with daffodils. Every fall I plant at least 500 – knowing the joy the brilliant yellow flowers will bring.

This story is one of my favorites – a fitting tribute to a remarkable Bregdan Woman.

Imagine this conversation with me…

“Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they’re over. They’ve never been more beautiful,” Carolyn said.

She knew her mom, Amanda, needed to visit. She just had to convince her. “You haven’t ever gone and this year you must. Please come, please. I know you’ll be glad you did.”

“Honey, I want to come. But it’s a two-hour drive. You know I hate to drive. Maybe next week.”

Carolyn ground her teeth but vowed not to give up.

She called again . . . early the next week. “Mom? The daffodils won’t last forever . . . are you coming?” Carolyn’s voice teetered on pleading . . . not something she usually did.

“I can’t this week . . . but next,” Amanda responded.

Arrgghhh!

Carolyn knew she needed another approach, so she put the grandchildren on the phone. “Gammy, you come to see us? Pleease?”

Carolyn could feel her mother’s love for her grandchildren breaking through her resistance. She pumped her fist in the air victoriously.

“Pleease, Gammy??”

“I will come next Tuesday,” Amanda promised reluctantly.

The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Amanda wanted nothing more than to stay home, but she had promised her grandchildren. “Pleease, Gammy?” rang in her ears.

When she finally walked into Carolyn’s house, she hugged her grandchildren, and said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog. There is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!”

Her daughter smiled calmly. “We drive in this all the time, Mother. You’ll never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

She reached for her car keys.

Amanda shook her head stubbornly. “You won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!”

Once again, her grandchildren worked their magic. A few minutes later, with a grandchild gripping each hand, pulling, and chattering excitedly, she found herself climbing into her daughter’s car.

Twenty minutes later they turned onto a gravel road she never would have seen in the fog. At that same moment the fog began to swirl and lift. The sun cast a shimmering glow that appeared more than a little magical as it teased the fog from the ground.

A tiny church appeared around a curve. There was a large hand-lettered sign off to the side that read Daffodil Garden.

Amanda, despite herself, began to feel a strange sense of anticipation. She climbed out of the car, took a child’s hand, and followed Carolyn down the path. When they turned a corner, she looked up and gasped. Spread before her lay the most glorious sight she had ever seen.

It appeared as though someone had taken a shimmering vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. 5 acres of glowing daffodils were planted in majestic, swirling patterns-great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.

Amanda fought to breathe as she took it in. As her eyes swept the beauty, she took a deep breath and let the magnificence fill her. It filled her soul and expanded her lungs.

“Pretty!” her youngest granddaughter exclaimed.

Carolyn reached down, lifted her up, and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Very pretty,” she agreed. “Thank you for talking me into coming.”

Her granddaughter grinned and patted her cheeks. “Pretty!”

After long minutes of enjoying the magnificence of the flowers, she turned to Carolyn with a question on her face. Her daughter merely pointed toward a small well-kept home perched modestly to the side.

When Amanda got close enough she saw the poster – Answers to the Questions I know you are Asking.

The first answer was a simple one – 50,000 bulbs. The second answer – One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain. The third answer – Began in 1958.

There it was, The Daffodil Principle.

For Amanda, that moment was life-changing. A Bregdan Woman she had never met, more than forty years before, had begun – one bulb at a time – to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.

One bulb at a time, year after year, she had created something of magnificence, beauty, and inspiration – forever changing the world in which she lived.

Tears filled her eyes. “What might I have accomplished,” Amanda murmured, “if I had thought of something wonderful 40 years ago and worked away at it all these years? What might I have been able to accomplish?”

Carolyn smiled as if she could read her mother’s mind and reached over to flip the poster. On the opposite side were two words – the mystery lady’s answer to Amanda’s last unspoken question.

START TOMORROW!

The Daffodil Principle is one of the greatest secrets of life. It is about learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time – often just one baby step at a time. It’s about learning to love the doing and learning to use the accumulation of time.

It is about knowing that when we choose to multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, that we, too, can accomplish magnificent things.

I’m going to repeat that. Read it slowly.

It is about knowing that when we choose to multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, that we, too, can accomplish magnificent things.

You can make a difference in your world!

Forget the lost hours of yesterday . . . they aren’t coming back.

The way to make your choices a cause for celebration, instead of a reason for regret is to ask: “How can I put this to use today?”

“What can I do today to impact the rest of my life?”

“What can I do today to impact history?”

So today, Bregdan Woman, as you choose how to life, remember the Daffodil’s and the lady who believed in the future . . . she believed enough to start small and let the magic of time magnify that belief into acres of beauty.

I believe that principle works today.

Small acts of kindness, small steps toward change, all grow within us to create works of beauty.

Is there something you need to know? Daily learning, just fifteen minutes, can make you an expert in anything.

Beauty can be created one bulb, one flower, one plant at a time.

I feel like the Daffodil lady right now. My dream is to have 5 million women reading I Am A Bregdan Woman - for starters! I KNOW the impact so many changed and inspired Bregdan Women will have on the world.

I make a daily choice to take action.

One letter at a time…

One reader at a time…

One marketing plan at a time…

One action at a time…

I’m planting a bulb with every action I take! I’m creating a new Bregdan Woman with every action I take.

Be like the Daffodil woman and believe in your future. It may take some time to see the greatness in your life, but it is there.

START TOMORROW – OR BETTER YET, START RIGHT THIS MOMENT!

*****************************

And the final question I will ask each day… What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Today, you’re going to learn that if you can run here, you can run anywhere!

This Bregdan Woman came from Bekoji, a small village 10,500 feet above sea level in Ethiopia. There are plenty of donkeys, horses, goats, and cows on the road, but only 25 people in the population of 17,000 own a car. The landscape looks arid but is incredibly fertile – growing anything that is planted.

The average temperature is 66 degrees – my kind of place! It may take some time for your lungs to acclimate to the elevation, but you will revel in the crisp, pure air.

One thing is for sure… if you can run here, you can run anywhere.

Except that Derartu Tulu didn’t grow up running. Her love was horseback riding. She was quite convinced her feet weren’t meant to touch the ground. She rounded up the family cattle on horseback. She went to school on horseback. She visited friends on horseback.

When she was 16, some friends convinced her to give running a try. She still preferred horses, but running could provide her with opportunities that horseback riding could not.

She also happened to be quite good at it. In an area that embraced long distance running, she was unusually fast. She began to realize the doors that could open for her – just because she was fast.

And tough.

Her running philosophy was simply expressed: You need to be tough in everything you do.

That’s a philosophy every Bregdan Woman should embrace!

Derartu was only twenty when she made the Olympic squad for the 10,000 meter race in 1992. She was headed to Barcelona, Spain!

While she showed great promise, no one expected her to medal. While there was expectation that the event would see the first gold medal won by an African woman, no one thought Derartu would win, or place.

South Africa had recently ended Apartheid, so they were invited to the Barcelona Olympics. Their star runner, Elena Meyer, a white South African, was heavily favored to win.

Derartu didn’t care what everyone thought. She had come to run!

The Olympic racing world was stunned when 20 year old Derartu kept pace with Elena Meyer, even when the South African broke away from the rest of the field. I’m sure Elena was stunned, too!

Derartu followed Elena, close on her heels, until just 400 meters were left of the race.

Derartu made her move, darted past Elena, and took the lead. She won the race by 30 meters!

I wonder if she was as shocked as the rest of the world when she crossed the finish line first? Probably not – she knew what she could do, even if no one else did. She was tough!

Derartu became the first black African woman to win Olympic gold!

I think something more important happened that day, though.

Derartu waited for Elena at the finish line. The two women, the first black African woman to earn an Olympic medal, and Elena a white South African, set off hand in hand for a victory lap that symbolized hope for a new Africa.

I love this image!

Derartu knew her victory was a big one for women’s athletics. After she won gold in Barcelona, many women runners started thinking it was possible to win big competitions.

Believing something is possible is the most important step in actually making it happen.

I’m going to repeat that. Believing something is possible is the most important step in actually making it happen.

Derartu inspired generations of runners – having an impact through history.

It wasn’t simply her victories that inspired women, however. Remember her philosophy about being tough?

After stunning the world in 1992, a knee injury kept her from running for two years. Nothing was going to stop her, however. She returned to competition in 1995, winning gold in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships

Oh, I should probably mention she arrived at that race only an hour before the start. She was stuck at the Athens airport without sleep for 24 hours.

Yep – she had to be tough.

1996 was another tough year. Derartu lost her shoe in that year’s IAAF race and had to fight back to place fourth in the race she had won the year before. Nursing an injury, she also finished fourth at the Olympics.

In 1998 she gave birth to a daughter, but she wasn’t finished running. She was more motivated than ever to show what women and mothers could achieve.

She worked relentlessly, coming back in 2000 in the best shape of her life. Showing just how tough she was, she won the 10,000m Olympic gold for the second time!

She kept running. Derartu has a total of five world and Olympic medals.

I could go on and on about her accomplishments. She ran competitively into her late thirties, adding marathons to her list of events, winning many races along the way.

When she finished running competitively, she set her sights on helping other athletes in Ethiopia.

She has been the president of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation since 2018 – inspiring and motivating athletes from every discipline in her home country.

She is focused on teaching more athletes how to be tough.

Here are your questions… What do you need to be TOUGH about? How will it change your life?

One additional tidbit (that deserves its own story soon!) is that Derartu is the aunt of the Dibaba siblings. The five Dibaba sisters are considered to be the fastest set of siblings in the world.

The sisters were inspired by their aunt!

Derartu is a true Bregdan Woman. Her actions and accomplishments have impacted and inspired girls and women across the world!

If this letter has inspired you, it would mean the world to me if you will share it with your friends and family - or on your social media. My dream is to reach MILLIONS of women. You can help!

****************************

And, like always,

What will you do today to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

Here’s the thing though… it takes ALL of you - paid and Free subscribers to create the community of Bregdan Women that makes this possible. THANK YOU!

KIVA is a microloan organization that empowers people all over the world to create businesses, get an education, etc. I’ve been helping women for years through KIVA, but I Am A Bregdan Woman is throwing that into overdrive! I love KIVA so much because it loans money and helps women succeed. The women pay back the loan - meaning we can put it back into the cycle by giving it to another woman. It never goes away!

Meet the two newest recipients:

# 1 -

Lucille from The Philippines

Lucille is a hardworking entrepreneur who has a food vending business in the Philippines. Lucille requested a PHP 25,000 loan through NWTF to purchase ingredients for her food production business. Lucille has been sustaining her business activities through her own efforts with the help of the loans from NWTF. She dreams to save enough money so she could afford to send her children to college.

YOU have helped to make her dream come true!

Vilma - The Philippines

Vilma is 61 years old, married with four children. Vilma has a food vending business in the Philippines.

She has requested a PHP 20,000 loan through NWTF to purchase ingredients for her food production business. Vilma has been sustaining her business activities through her past loans from NWTF.

Vilma aspires to save enough to secure the future of her family.

_____________________________

I’ll never stop helping women change their lives. I’ll also never stop letting YOU know you are helping make it possible!

Please don’t think this is a request for you to become a Paid Subscriber. I know there are many that simply can’t. I’m giving you EVERYTHING anyway.

But… if you can…

I cheer every time I see a paid subscription come through. Seriously… I cheer every time I receive notice of a new paid subscriber. At least once a day I do a happy dance in my office!

Subscribe now

Why do I get so excited? Two reasons:

1 - Because I need your help in reaching millions of women around the globe. My goal is at least 5 Million women… women in EVERY country - well every country that has internet.

I constantly think about what a better world we will live in when millions of women understand their POWER to live their lives and make a difference - all from reading stories of amazing women who are doing just that.

It takes a lot of money to reach all these women through emails, social media, and advertising. I give as much as I can from my income as an author, but I need other Bregdan Women to step up and help - just $5 a month will make a huge difference.

I never want a woman to not be able to receive everything I create because of money!

But that’s not all…

2 - 15% of the money will go toward supporting women owned businesses around the world through KIVA or another microloan company. I’ve been supporting women through this organization for years - with your help, we can help even more. I’ll introduce you to the women we’re helping! The ripples through their lives and through their families lives will spread to generations.

With just $5 a month, you can make a huge difference as a Bregdan Woman!

In addition, I’m giving you a PDF version of I Am A Bregdan Woman - a 255 page book written just for YOU.

Every action you take impacts history!

Have a fabulous day!

Ginny

Leave a comment

It’s time to finish telling you about Aloha being left alone in the uncharted jungle of the Amazon Basin.

There are some women who simply can’t be told about in just one letter. Aloha is one of them. If you didn’t read (or listen to) the last letter, and you want to know what I’m talking about, you want to go back and do that first.

Remember me telling you that Aloha eventually married Captain Wanderwell when she was twenty? She didn’t even have to change her name since she had already been given his last name as her stage name when she joined him at age sixteen.

In the midst of their travels, she had two sons. Reunited with her mother and sister who were living in South Africa, her mother was the one to care for her children when they took off on their next adventure of traveling throughout Africa.

Aloha was just 23 years old when they headed off on an even more extraordinary adventure deep in the Mata Grosso region of the Amazon basin.

I’ve done the geographical research for you…

Most of Mato Grosso lies on the western extension of the Brazilian Plateau in South America, across which runs the watershed that separates the Amazon River basin to the north from the basin of the Río de la Plata system to the south. This elevated region is known as the Mato Grosso Plateau, and its elevation is about 3,000 feet.

Let’s go with the reality that it was in the middle of nowhere!

Add to that the knowledge that it was 1929, and you’ll understand how concerning it was when their seaplane (with the Captain piloting) failed and went down on an unchartered portion of the Amazon River. Miraculously, it landed safely, but it was not going to fly again – at least not without replacement parts.

What were they going to do?

They managed to get it to shore and secure it by ropes, but how were they going to get it back into the air? They weren’t just going to walk away from it for good.

Members of the Bororos tribe had witnessed their plane fall from the sky. It was certainly nothing they had ever seen before. They were intrigued by the white couple who was eager to befriend them and get to know them.

A connection and friendship grew quickly, but the Wanderwells still had to figure out a way to return to their world, and to their children.

The only way to get replacement parts was for them to make their way back to civilization. And no, there were no roads or transportation. It would take several months of walking through the jungle – possibly accessing a canoe or raft to travel one of the rivers. Regardless, the trek was going to be brutal, dangerous, and LONG.

They would go together.

Until… Aloha decided to stay behind – with an indigenous tribe that simply knew they had dropped from the sky in a broken airplane! I’m sure they were fascinated by the tall, blond woman, but she was still taking a risk, and there was no guarantee she would ever see her husband again.

I wonder how Captain Wanderwell really felt about traversing hundreds of miles of jungle by himself. I suspect he was well aware his lovely young wife did things her own way!

When the Captain left on his trek across the jungle, Aloha continued to charm the natives, started filming, and carefully documented their lives.

When the Captain eventually returned with the spare parts that would enable the plane to fly again, she had the footage to create two films; FLIGHT TO THE STONE AGE and THE LAST OF THE BOROROS.

It was two years before she returned home to California with the earliest filmed record of the Bororo tribe. It stands today as a historical and important anthropological resource within the Smithsonian Institute’s Human Studies Archive.

I think you’ll agree that Aloha was a fearless Bregdan Woman!

Just like with any Bregdan Woman, she had to deal with curve balls that threatened to derail everything.

Back in the United States, after her jungle adventure, she and the Captain made plans for future expeditions and films.

Their plans were destroyed when the Captain was murdered by an unknown assailant on their 110’ yacht, “The Carma”, in Long Beach, California. His death remains one of the most famous unsolved cases on the West Coast.

Despite Aloha’s grief, and the intense media scrutiny that followed her husband’s death, she returned to the lecture circuit. The Captain had died, but his legacy would live on.

Aloha remarried one of the expedition photographers and became Aloha Baker. She continued her travels with her new husband to India and Australia. The wanderlust never lost its glitter! She went on to have a long and distinguished career as an explorer, documentary filmmaker, and travel lecturer.

From a restless teenager to the notoriety of Aloha Wanderwell, The World’s Most Traveled Girl, this Bregdan Woman proved what was possible during a time when a woman could scarcely dream of a life without borders.

In 1980, when she was 74, Aloha gave her last known lecture and screening, at the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles. She asked her audience how they traveled.

“By car and plane.”

I can easily imagine her laughing and saying, “Not the way I did!”

She proceeded to dazzle them with movie clips of her travels by car before superhighways existed, and by plane when commercial airlines were in their infancy.

In her later years, Aloha carefully tended to her priceless collection of films, photos, journals, diaries, and artifacts from her travels. Understanding the legacy she had created, she arranged for much of her work to be preserved in the Library of Congress, Smithsonian D.C., and various museums and educational institutions throughout the United States.

Her beloved husband, Walter Baker, died two years after their 60^th anniversary.

Aloha died the next year, at age 89.

What a remarkable life! Aloha, from childhood, shunned the world’s expectations. Determined to live life on her own terms, she created a legacy that will exist forever.

Aloha created her legacy with films. My hope is to create a remarkable legacy with my books and the letters I write about memorable Bregdan Women – that will be compiled into books each year!

Aloha will continue to be a powerful inspiration for me.

I hope she does the same for you!

Are you ready for your questions??

What do you want your legacy to be?

How are you going to achieve it?

You don’t have to travel the globe. You don’t have to write novels.

Remember the Bregdan Principle.

Every action you take creates a legacy!

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

I can so relate to the woman I’m going to tell you about today.

Like her, I never quite fit into the world around me. I wasn’t interested in being like my friends. I scorned the idea of fitting into any kind of box, and I was certainly not impressed by rules that were meant to control my behavior and choices. I turned away from what was expected of me, and I searched for my own path.

When I discovered Aloha Wanderwell, I knew I had met a kindred soul!

She was born Idris Galcia Hall, in Canada, in 1906. Her father died when she was two. Her mother remarried the next year and moved the family to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

As an aside, I’ve lived on Vancouver Island. It is spectacularly beautiful. If you ever get a chance to visit, do it! Now, back to Idris…

Free-spirited and independent, she was a natural born entertainer and leader. She was six feet tall and a talented athlete.

Idris chafed against societal norms for women for her whole life. She simply wanted to do things her way.

I laughed when I learned this about her. I’m six feet tall… I’m an athlete… and my favorite song is “I Did It My Way”! Understand now why I feel I’ve met a kindred soul?

Idris’ world changed when her stepfather joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. Her mother decided to follow him. Obviously, her mother was quite extraordinary, as well. She took 8-year-old Idris and her sister Margaret to Europe, where they traveled around England, Belgium, and France.

Idris was very close to her stepfather. She had devoured his beloved collection of boyhood books – books that filled her with dreams of travel, adventure, and intrigue in the far-flung corners of the globe.

Idris was also movie-crazy. Mary Pickford was her idol. For good reason! I’m sure I’ll write a letter about Mary in the future, but for now, I’ll just tell you that Pickford was one of the most popular actresses of the silent film era. Beginning her film career in 1909, Pickford became Hollywood’s first millionaire by 1916. At the height of her career, Mary had complete creative control of her films and was one of the most recognizable women in the world. Due to her popularity, unprecedented international fame, and success as an actress and businesswoman, she was known as the “Queen of the Movies”.

Idris dreamed of stardom as often as she dreamed of adventure. Mary Pickford was quite the role model and mentor for the young girl.

When her stepfather was killed in battle during the last year of the war, 11-year-old Idris was devastated. Her mother, stricken with grief, enrolled her daughter in a convent school in France. It was meant to be a safe place for her to be happy and receive her education.

As you can imagine, it didn’t go as planned…

Her superiors at the convent school tried in vain to transform the tall self-described tomboy into a proper young lady. Idris had zero interest in their expectations of her.

She craved freedom.

It arrived in the form of a newspaper ad in 1992.

Idris was sixteen.

Travel expedition searching for a good-looking, brainy young woman willing to forswear skirts and rough it in Asia and Africa. Be prepared to learn to work before and behind a movie camera.

Idris was hooked. Her mother, knowing how unhappy and restless her daughter was, granted permission for her to apply for the job.

The rest is history…

Idris met with Walter Wanderwell (known as the Captain) in Paris and secured the job as a mechanic and filmmaker. The Captain, captivated by her charisma and adventurous spirit, christened her with a new stage name: Aloha Wanderwell.

Aloha Wanderwell.

It has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Can’t you hear the star quality in the name?

Done with the convent and basking in her new freedom, Aloha cast any caution to the wind. This was her chance to make a name for herself.

Aloha joined the Million Dollar Wager – a round-the world endurance race between two teams racing Ford Model Ts to see which team could visit the most countries. Her job description expanded to the expedition’s translator and driver.

Like everyone, she dressed in a military jacket, jodhpurs and riding boots. It suited her perfectly.

The public was captivated by her youth, beauty, and spirit. She quickly became the face of the expedition – the camera capturing her adventures in a series of movie travelogues.

Aloha was the first woman to drive around the world. She clocked 380,000 miles in the 1920’s, and traversed six continents, often in places where paved roads were unknown.

Newspapers called her the Amelia Earhart of the open road.

The world loved her. Aloha radiated star quality onscreen and electrified lecture audiences with her tales of the road.

She directed and appeared in eleven films, which are now in the archives of the Library of Congress and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which happens to have been founded by her idol, Mary Pickford. Aloha was a true independent filmmaker. She created and distributed her own films. She presented them on the lecture circuit. Satisfied with nothing short of excellence, she continually re-edited them throughout her career.

Have you ever had the travel bug? I know I have!

On Aloha’s first trek, from 1922 to 1925, she drove from Nice, France, across Europe and then through Asia, from Mumbai to Kolkata on India’s broad shoulders, and then up to China. She entered the U.S.S.R, where the Soviet Army named her an honorary colonel for being the first woman to pilot a motorcar to Siberia.

Her life changed even more when she married Captain Wanderwell in 1926, at age 20. Since she had already claimed Aloha Wanderwell as her name, she didn’t even have to change it!

The adventures continued. During their next expedition from Cape Town to Cairo, she helped him improvise. They used kerosene for gasoline, crushed bananas to grease the gears, and water and elephant fat for engine oil. Who knew??

Creativity to create what was necessary was a key component to expedition success.

The adventures were endless through the years… The expedition journeyed through France and its battlefields… swept through Italy just as Mussolini and the Fascisti were consolidating their power…

Braved food riots and hostile mobs in Germany, a country then reeling from the harsh reparations demanded by the victorious allies of World War I…

They camped at the foot of the Great Sphinx in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings… drove into Palestine, where the Jews were attempting to build a new nation… across the arid lands of India, towing the Model T Ford’s across rivers by water buffalo…

Aloha traversed the highlands of Portuguese East Africa, and nearly died of thirst in the Sudanese desert… disguised herself as a man and prayed in Mecca…

She became a confidante of Chinese bandits and was even granted the title of “Honorary Colonel” in the Red Army of Siberia…

To top it all off, she hung out with her idol, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks during a visit to Hollywood.

Wow!

I’ve done my fair share of traveling and have lots of stories to go with my adventures, but I’ve never come close to what Aloha lived. At least not yet! I’m still breathing, so I have lots of adventures still to live.

Of course, she kinda raised the bar much higher when her and the Captain’s plane went down in the unexplored jungle of the Amazon basin.

But, that story is for Friday. You won’t want to miss it!

And, yes, I love dangling endings. I am a fiction author you know!

Look for Friday’s letter!

And in the meantime, ask yourself what you can do today to impact history!

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment

Go ahead… BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS! And then… take action to make them come true!!

Ginny

Writing this letter broke my heart. I hope it breaks yours, as well.

And because this story is still being played out in a different format, almost every day, my heartbreak continues.

Thank God for this Bregdan Woman who is fighting to change things!

I’m doing my small part by making sure you know.

Cheryl Horn’s fight began when the unthinkable happened. Her best friend’s 16-year-old daughter, Selena Not Afraid, went missing in Montana in 2020.

Regrettably, it has become a too often realized fear for Indigenous families. If you don’t know, Indigenous refers to American Indians and Alaskan Natives – the people who were here long before white people came to claim what is now called the United States of America.

The unthinkable is happening far too often.

It is usually girls who go missing.

Here’s a sobering statistic for you. Montana has about one million people. 6.7% of them are Indigenous people. If you’re slow at math, like me, that’s 67,000 people. Despite the small population, Indigenous people make up about 26% of the missing persons cases in the state. Most of them are female.

That number is horrifying.

Montana is not alone. Other states with Indigenous populations (most US States) report high instances, as well.

What makes it more sobering is that nobody knows what the true number is because many cases go unreported. Others aren’t well-documented, and no government database specifically tracks them. The actual number of missing and murdered women is simply unknown.

No one has cared enough to know.

Let that sink in…

No one has cared enough to know.

Up until “the call” came, Cheryl would scroll through social media, find a notice of a missing Indigenous girl, feel a few moments of regret and outrage, and then keep scrolling. It was all too much to process.

Cheryl is a citizen of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. She is a member of the Assiniboine Tribe. She is known as Magazu Nahzi, which means Standing in the Rain.

She quit simply scrolling the day “the call” came.

Her beloved Selena, whom she had helped raise, had gone missing at a highway rest stop.

As soon as Cheryl received notice, she threw clothes in a bag, hopped into her car, and drove 350 miles to help search.

The family put out urgent pleas for help in the search via Facebook. Dozens responded. Drones were on site on day one. A helicopter joined the search, as well. Eight days in, there was a sharp turn in the weather, moving from balmy 40- to 50-degree days to temps below 30 with a biting wind.

The search continued.

Hope remained alive. Surely, with so much help, they would find Selena. They kept searching.

Cheryl posted relentlessly on Facebook. She was determined to keep Selena in the spotlight. She was determined to make sure people didn’t just scroll by. She organized search parties… printed flyer after flyer… and educated her community and beyond about the plight of unsolved crimes involving Indigenous women.

She kept Selena’s light shining – to make sure people continued to care.

19 days after Selena’s disappearance, hope died.

Her body was found less than a mile from where she had gone missing – in the exact area extensive searching had been done.

The only possible conclusion was that she had been kidnapped, killed, and then dumped close to where she had gone missing. Law enforcement offered another theory that she had wandered off and died of exposure. Not one of the searchers believes that is true.

Especially Cheryl Horn.

She has been fighting for justice from that moment forward.

I’m going to tell you some things that are hard to know, but impossible for a Bregdan Woman to ignore. Knowledge is paramount.

Indigenous women face murder rates 10 times the national average on some reservations. 10 times! That shocked me.

Equally shocking? 84% experience violence in their lifetime. 84%!

Before you think the reservations are just a dangerous place, you need to know that 67% of these assaults on Indigenous women are perpetrated by non-Indigenous people. It’s appalling!

Not many criminals are caught. Fewer are held accountable.

WHY?

It’s complicated and complex. The reality is driven by historical trauma since the days of American Colonialism and the long-term impact of residential schools where Indigenous children were imprisoned. That will be a letter for another day.

These girls and women are vulnerable. They’re seen as easy prey.

I hope that after you learn this, you’ll dig deeper to discover the truth and then let your voice become part of demanding a solution.

That’s what Cheryl Horn is doing.

She fights for more than Selena. She fights for the thousands of Indigenous girls and women who have been murdered or are missing.

In Cheryl’s words: “When you’re going through searching for your loved one and you’re actually out there knowing that you’re the only one searching, it’s really eye opening and life changing. I just kept promising myself that I wouldn’t stop, that I’ll help other people.”

Horn pledged to speak for all families statewide that believe their loved ones have fallen victim to sex trafficking, drug abuse, kidnapping, or partner or spousal abuse. She’s persuaded volunteers, nonprofit organizations, state officials, and law enforcement agencies to provide resources to bring women home – or at least offer closure when the worst becomes reality.

Experience has taught her that it is the WOMEN who go out and search.

The WOMEN who will persevere until their loved ones are found.

This Bregdan Woman encourages other women to discover their power and to make things happen.

She tells them, “Help isn’t coming… WE ARE THE HELP!”

Yes, of course she gets discouraged.

She is determined to fight to stay positive, however, so that she can help other women find their way home! Determined to help them create a new life after the fear and abuse.

She’s used to late night calls from family members who are terrified when they realize their daughter, wife, or sister has gone missing. She understands their terror and feelings of helplessness.

Eighteen months after Selena went missing, Cheryl became a victim liaison with the Montana Board of Crime Control.

Her responsibilities are going throughout the state and working with tribal communities to figure out the gaps and needs they have with victim services.

She realizes how far she has come since the day Selena went missing.

“I’m not the victim anymore. I’m not the grassroots advocate. I feel like I leveled up a little bit to where I’m actually effective. And I can be effective, and I can help make positive changes. I can bring positive programs and things to all the tribes.”

THAT is what a Bregdan Woman does. They turn darkness into light. They bring hope and power to the hopeless and powerless.

They take painful experiences and work to create change.

Your question for the day?

What can you do to bring light??

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you!

Ginny

Leave a comment