Okay, I blurted out to my wife this morning, I want to be honest, I have a crush on Wendy Davis,  the Texas legislator who literally stood in her truth for 13 hours, filibustering against yet another cluster of men who don’t yet realize they cannot tell women any longer how to live their lives. I was especially interested in the comments of the governor of Texas, talking about how much Texans value life on the eve of the state’s 500th execution of a convicted felon.

Davis wore pink sneakers all through her filibuster and they have become a symbol of women’s efforts to make their own decisions. That inspired Maria to think about potholders.

I love Wendy Davis’s story, every bit of it, this single mom, who raised her daughter in a Forth Worth Trailer, got herself through college and then Harvard Law School and then into public office, and who was told on Monday that she couldn’t lean on her desk, go to the bathroom or eat all during her filibuster. With the help of some loud supporters, the vote on shutting down abortion clinics in Texas was stopped, at least for the moment. She behaved with humor, conviction and strength.

Maria took the news of my crush well,  I expected her to be annoyed with me, she can be jealous and has accused me more than once – she is Sicilian – of having secret flirtations with women. I wouldn’t dare even think of it. Fortunately, she loves Wendy Davis too. She didn’t care about my crush, she shrugged it off, then came into my office from her studio to show me a sketch she was working on. She is going to spend the day making Pink Sneaker Potholders (sketch above)  and selling them in honor of Rep. Davis, and then donating a portion of her sales to Planned Parenthood, a group she supports and believes in. Me too.

Good for Maria. I may have a crush on Wendy Davis, but I am in love with Maria, a woman who is also standing in her truth. I will try and go online and get some pink sneakers for her. I admit to loving strong women. I admit to believing that woman are the best, perhaps last great hope for the world. I think an integral part of being a real man is letting go of the notion that women are helpless and dependent and need to be told how to live. It seems to me it is men who need some help making decisions. Perhaps some legislator will propose another way of promoting health and saving lives – when men mistreat, harass and rape or abuse women, or when they start wars or hurt and kill people,  or destroy economies and work lives through predatory banking and shady investment practices, or ruin the environment through their greed and insensitivity – send them off  to some of the new Texas health clinics where they can get vasectomies and a few years of group therapy. Think how many lives that might save, and how much health that could promote.

It seemed to me that Wendy Davis,  who has known hard times, risen above them, and who is the living embodiment of the idea that right or wrong, women can control their own lives and make the right decisions for themselves.

I am sure it was not easy for Wendy Davis to stand on that floor for 13 hours while people challenged her and yelled at her. It was not easy for Maria, either, to choose to make her own kind of stand. We both avoid politics, in our lives and especially in our work. But sometimes you just have to stand up and say who you are, that is part of being authentic. That is not an easy thing for Maria to do. But now that I think of it, it wasn’t that hard either.  Can’t wait to see her Pink Sneaker Potholders.