tough ladies

I've always been a super sucker for the tough ladies. I've rocked out long and hard to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, always finding solace and strength from their candid words and badass artistry. But there's a third girlie in my mix. One who shares her space in that top three, if not, dare I say, landing her place at the tippy top. That's my girl Ani Difranco. And I got to watch her in all her glory on stage at the Wilma last night.

I've followed Ani since I was tortured twenty year old college gal. I went through some dark times during college. The generally peppy, smiley, fairly optimistic GT was replaced by a brooding, angry, cynical chick in really dark lipstick and big, black Doc Martins. I always had headphones in my ears and walked with a purpose, with my head down my backpack heavy with the feminist novels and poetry I sucked down like water. And right there beside the books, those ladies sang their little hearts out, creating a soundtrack for my turbulent times. When I found Ani, it was like suddenly getting really good therapy and finally having a friend that totally got me, all rolled into one. Her songs played like my diaries. Her combination of anger, honesty, brilliance, toughness, energy, grit and humor got me through many long, lonely nights. And then last night, she came over to play. After all this time.

Ani is a mama now. Yup. We're that connected. And Casey is another fellow die hard. So I could share the absolute splendor of it all with yet another badass mama. After the show, I just kept looking around at all of these tremendous women who live in my lil town. Amazing, strong, solid, honest, kind, hardworking women. More than I have time to play with. More than I have time to keep it real with. But always totally inspirational.

Journeying back through the years with Ani last night reminded me how far I've come. When I saw Eliana this morning, I just wanted to squeeze her silly. I was flooded with pride for the smiling little sunshine that I brought into this world. Her mama went to a dark place a long time ago, wrote and swore and battled her way out of it, and now can shine brightly on the other side. Ani looked more beautiful than ever. How could she not? She now smiles knowing that her heart is fuller than ever because of the little girl she brought into the world.