strong females, young and old

As I dined with the bfe tonight, lessons from my history with him came to mind to guide me.
He thinks he's slick, you see.
But I know to look for the strings when he initiates a meeting.
There's usually a favor involved for him, from me.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy every minute I had with Contessa. I do not regret one single decision that led to time with her.
But time with the Chlo... she was definitely not shareable. That week spent with her had seemed so very long.
Both of the old ladies are gone now.
Anywho...back to this story!
He had asked me - via text, naturally, on his new phone - to dinner after we both finished our evening classes.
Last night, he had taken his travel kit with him to visit Erica at her new house.
That was last night - a Sunday - not his usual Friday or Saturday.
Something was definitely up.
I'm sure it was so he could do a test drive this morning to campus from Berwick, to get a feel for what his commute would be henceforth.
Apparently, it was acceptable to him.
So, tonight, we had dinner... and he "broke up with me".
(smile)
I'm the second break-up he's had in as many weeks.
At least I saw it coming.
The timing of this change is excellent, though, for both of us.
This weekend would have been the end of this fourth month at my house. Since he will be moving, there will be no rent check to me, but there will be one to Erica, his new 'landlady' and old friend. Moving over the weekend will give him an easier timetable than over his four jam-packed weekdays.
As for me? I look forward to having the place to myself again. As I told him, I've enjoyed having him around... but since his break-up with his girlfriend of three years, he's at loose ends on Fridays and Saturdays. I know he's anxious to get back into the dating pool, but I don't particularly want him dragging a new fish to my house - capisci?
Been there, had that done here, want no more of it.
(smile)

I've been quite fortunate to have had strong women assisting me with my asserting myself.
Friday night, following an afternoon of flying around in space and time, I found myself in a black box of Masquers, in France of 1793.
Enter four determined women, each with different methods, each trying to have a positive impact for the good of the people, three with the same bad date with a guillotine during one bloody summer and fall.
The first in the room was "the only feminist playwright in Paris", 45-year-old Olympe De Gouges. Her goal was to better the lives of colonial slaves, as well as to encourage equality between men and women.
She was soon joined by the only person of color, Marianne Angel Ogé, a revolutionist from the Caribe who might have been a fictional composite - after all, as she told the playwright, "You never wrote about me! No one even knows I exist!" Her fight for freedom was done through peaceful channels, though that did not save her husband's life.
Their reveries are muted by the entrance of Charlotte Corday, not yet 25 years old, determined to have her story told before she murders a hate-monger.
Then Marie Antoinette, Queen of the French and 37-year-old widow (after 22 years of marriage), sweeps into the room, claiming it and their attention... and ours. She knows her days are numbered and wants to keep her dignity intact, even as she mounts the steps up to the scaffold.
Very impressive women, made more so by the biographical summaries in the hall.
These were real women, standing up for their rights and those of others.

On Saturday, more real women showed up. These were the two subjects of the evening documentary, "Tempestad", from the Spanish Film Club.
Miriam, whose face we never see, went to work at the airport in Mexico one day and found herself - and her coworkers - in prison for several months. Their crime? None... but the government needed a group arrest to show results in the battle against human traffickers. To add insult to injury, Miriam and the others were placed into a prison run by the drug cartels. Her family had to pay for her safety. She was telling her story to bring attention to this wrong done by the Mexican police and politicians.
Adele was proud to show her face, as were members of her family and her friends. Miriam's older daughter had been kidnapped from college and sold to human traffickers. Her tale was of the deceit of the Mexican police, who she suspected of being complicit in the crime. This elegant circus clown lived in the hope of her daughter's return.
These were real women, standing up for their rights and those of others.

I strive to also be a real woman, standing up for myself and for others.
i thank You, God, for such role models throughout time and space.