I was raised in an extended family and my immediate segment of it included my mother, my aunt and her two daughters, and my grandmother. My father and grandfather were also very much around but within the family the women held sway. My two cousins were several years older than I and amongst all these females I was treated as a little prince.
At the time I had an inkling of how lucky I was just by comparison to the other kids on the block. I always had a clean bed, warm food and loving arms, and often, very often, extra sweets slipped to me by one or another of my loving ladies.
Looking back over my life I can see that besides being the source of treats and comforting I learned to appreciate women in a very meaningful way. For the rest of my life I have always sought to be around women and so learned how to behave with them, how to empathize with them and mostly how to love them. It feels like I was born with a natural aptitude for loving them.
My favorite hangout room has always been the kitchen where the smell and tastes were happening and the gossip was good and meaty. The men’s hangout room smelled of smoke and the gossip was never interesting. When it started to get interesting I’d be shooed from the room.
I still appreciate women. For their beauty, for their grace, and for their differences from men. In their company testosterone is pushed to the background, helpfulness is the rule and food is always available. And they are soft. And much more playful than men. Men turn all play into competition but “girls just want to have fun.”
In the very old days, early in humanity’s career, the main figure of worship was the Goddess of Life. Women bore the children, suckled them and made them people. Her place in life was respected and her ability to conceive and bear life was worshipped as was only right and proper.
Agriculture (undoubtedly invented by women and then taken over by men) moved society into patriarchal structures but hopefully that’s undergoing a change in this era. For me, the ancient ways have always been the best. Whatever their physical shape women have always symbolized loving comfort to me and always will. Women have supported my spirit, ennobled my mind and delighted my flesh all my life.
I just can’t help loving them back.
