Happy day To all the people out there, because today isn’t just about women celebrating women, it’s about men celebrating their mothers for being strong women while raising them, it’s for students to celebrate the female teachers in their lives that had to speak up a little louder to be heard over the male voices and it’s definitely about the women we love.

Our daughters, our sisters, our wives.

Our girlfriends. Our girl friends.

Because being a woman is difficult. It was difficult in the 60s and it’s difficult today.

Men have an international day too, because in all fairness everybody deserves their own day to be celebrated but also, in fairness, men have never suffered as much at the hands of a woman, as a woman has at the hands of a man.

Being a woman myself that has suffered, I am allowed to say that. I can also proudly say I have forgiven wrong doings from men of my past, present and future. Because if I have learnt anything in the 40 years I’ve been on this planet, it’s that forgiveness is the absolute only way to feel genuinely happy. To carry a grudge is to store hate in your heart, and that emotion will absolutely only hurt you.

So happy international women’s day to all the women in my life, I’m sending you extra love today. And to all the men in my life, I’m grateful you stayed while I sorted through some hate in my heart.

Because now I can feel like the loving, compassionate woman I am meant to be sans grudges.

With love

Norma Rrae