Paying Tribute to Women

On International Women's Day

Photo by That's Her Business on Unsplash

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Rosy’s Ramblings.

Today is International Women’s Day so let’s applaud women around the world. Whatever role they play, women tend to square their shoulders and get on with it. Raising kids, committing to a career, being a homemaker… the list goes on and on. Resilience and empathy are two words I would associate with strong women.

Florence Nightingale

Two names off the top of my head which are synonymous with those attributes are Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie. Today, their legacies live on, as strong as ever. The Lady with the Lamp, as Florence Nightingale was also known, due to her making rounds of wounded soldiers at night, was the founder of modern nursing. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and raising living standards. She was a true inspiration and championed nursing, giving it a favourable reputation, and became the founder of nursing as we know it today.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the first person to win it twice. She was also the first woman to become a Professor at the University of Paris in 1906. She was born in Warsaw, what was then the Kingdom of Poland, and was part of the Russian Empire. She conducted pioneering research on radioactivity and went on to develop mobile radiography units for use on the front lines, with a plethora of other amazing achievements.

In addition to helping to overturn established ideas in physics and chemistry, Curie's work has had a profound effect in the societal sphere. To attain her scientific achievements, she had to overcome barriers, in both her native and her adoptive country, that were placed in her way because she was a woman

Two extraordinary women who overcame enormous barriers and hurdles at a time when the world was a very different place, which makes their achievements even more extraordinary.

In today’s modern world, women face huge challenges for equality and should be recognised for their work irrespective of their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion.

Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist reportedly once explained “The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”

Ladies, I salute you all.

Covid Day of Reflection

Today is also Covid Day of Reflection here in the UK where towns and cities up and down the country are holding a day of reflection.

There will be a procession along the Covid-19 memorial wall in London, which runs beside the River Thames, and ends with a ceremony outside Lambeth Palace.

By late October 2023, there had been at least 232,000 deaths in the UK related to the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organisation.

Like so many people around the world at that frightening time, I can remember feeling scared, particularly at the beginning when nobody knew the extent of the pandemic. Or what it was, even. I can remember thinking that it might be the end of the world. It was certainly the end of the world as we knew it before Covid-19. The mad dashes to the supermarket before lockdown and people panic buying. We bought things in bulk because none of us knew when we would be able to get out to buy food and other provisions again.

I had some neighbours who were shielding and was able to get a home delivery before the supermarkets (quite rightly) restricted deliveries to the most vulnerable. I can remember leaving the goods in their log store on the drive and then telephoning them to say that I had ‘made the drop.’

I also helped out with delivering much-needed medication and would drive to the surgery, collect the package and drop it in a box which was fixed to the gate at the bottom of the couple’s driveway. I was in a fortunate position with my health and was more than happy to help out.

I can remember too how we would go outside at 8:00 pm on a Thursday evening and clap for the wonderful NHS Carers who were caring for patients during the pandemic. My husband and I would go outside and it was the first time we had seen our neighbours for days, so we would wave across at them and ask how they were doing. Resilience became the norm as we buckled down and got on with it. I started working from home and fortunately, we were able to go for some beautiful walks which began right outside our front door. Our thoughts often turned to the less fortunate and we were humbled by our good fortune with our health and location, being in the heart of the beautiful Herefordshire countryside. Zoom calls with our children became the norm and quiz nights helped to pass the time.

The harrowing stories of people not being able to be with their loved ones as they lay dying will haunt me forever. There were so many stories of people going through terrible hardships: the hospitality trade, and shops closing down due to lack of trade. The education of children. To say the effects of lockdown had a far-reaching and devastating effect on so many would be an understatement. As time has passed, slowly some of them may have recovered, but in the long term, many are probably still struggling.

Back to International Women’s Day and I am hosting a lunch with a very special lady; my daughter. She is a Mental Health Nurse and is currently studying to become an Advanced Nurse Practitioner. Which means that she works and studies at the same time. I am so proud of her and she is up there with some of the strongest women I know. I could not wish for a better daughter and I love her with all my heart.

I hope you are able to spend time with your loved ones, or your nearest and dearest. As the years pass by, I am acutely aware that these special times should be cherished.

Look after yourselves,

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