It’s a time when roles have changed.
Let’s address what happens on an individual basis: Even though women are now considered fit for battle, and men being nursery school teachers, why is it still so difficult for many people to treat someone in a “different” role with a level of discomfort?
Strange!
Out of place?
How long will it take society to accept that people, all people, can assume many roles? The soldier can put on the sexiest nightgown for her husband when she comes home after duty and the nursery school teacher can slam the hockey player on his team so hard he sees stars.
I chose to go back to school to become a psychiatric social worker and work with chronically ill patients and families after I lost two children. But as an owner in the NBA, the nurse working alongside me at Children’s Hospital told me to go back where I belong. Just as I joined the American University Board and the general counsel wanted to talk to Abe, I told him, he had me.
The world has changed but so many people still have difficulty accepting people as who they are, their skills, and their persona.
We take on many different roles in our lives today. I know I have and continue to. I don’t want to be seen in only one way. I was Abe’s wife, my children’s mother, a mental health professional, a corporate board member, and I’ve loved being all of the above. I want to be proud that in each role, I earned my way, myself; because of the hard work and because I brought a variety of experience to each role.
I was Irene before I met Abe; I was Irene of Irene and Abe; and now I am Irene, after Abe.
From the Heart 