I drove

I drove 4 of them.  Picked them up one at a time from their homes.

Do you have your grips?

I drove 2 different freeways. Navigated long south valley traffic, merged suddenly in late-blooming summer construction, and pulled into our destination on the first try 30 minutes early.

Smothered in their laughter like warm wind and then they were gone.

I sat with the other moms at a distance watching them.
We sat for hours.
There was nothing but this; these girls, their believing moms, and the coaches who back them.

The camp ran long.

I drove three of them back.
One quiet.
One on low.
And mine, bubbling over with excitement.

I dropped one off at home.
Drove 2 through the drive-thru window.
Dropped them off back at our gym for a party.

I sat for a moment in my car.
Then I drove home, alone.... knowing I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

I am part of a generation of mothers raising the women who will rise to power in the coming decades.  Our job is not trivial. We are the generals.  They are our army.  If you are not with them you are against them.

If you have wondered why I have never touched on the scandals rocking USAG, it is because that is not a world I know.  The gym my daughter is in is owned by a woman who is also a mother.  Our girls are protected as athletes and as women.  They are so "sheltered" by her knowledge and mother bear protections that what is going on in the outside world is even shocking to me.

The inequalities out in the wider world are at such contrast to the environment our daughters are being raised in.  In our gym, in this sport, it is the girls, and the women, who hold all the power.  Our girls are being coached to trust themselves, to look out for each other, and to speak up when something is wrong- no matter who it is to or what it is about.

Watching the news this week, I felt the moment of change.  I felt the breaking point of thousands of women rushing the elevator doors.
   
I know someday someone will ask me what I was doing at this moment of change and revolution, what was my role in #MeToo and the 2nd revolution for women's rights?  I will answer, I was there, I was part of the driving force behind them.

I protected, I fueled, I educated, I listened, I gave counsel, I comforted, I held my tongue, I held onto them, and I let them go.

But mostly I drove.