Bow Tie o’ the Day’s fabric shows off pavers, which is why it is named PAVERLY by my go-to bow tie manufacturer—Beau Ties of Vermont. I decided it was a fitting choice for this outing because pavers can be used to create a path that can be traveled more easily, more beautifully, and safer than before the pavers were set down. Suzanne and I were at Utah Valley University last week to attend an event about some of the Utah women who paved—and continue to pave— their own roads, to everybody’s benefit.
The presentation was called CELEBRATING UTAH WOMEN: REMEMBERING THE PAST TO SHAPE THE FUTURE. Mom would have enjoyed the speakers. She has always emphatically said, “We need more women in charge of things!!!!! They see the big picture!!!!!” (Yes, she says it with that many exclamation points.) To which I usually say, “Gee, Mom. Tell us what you really think.” Mom’s opinions are not shy. They just show up and get right in your face, and you have to deal with ’em. I absolutely treasure Mom for that feistiness. That woman has blazed her own bigly trail, and more than a few of us have benefited from spending some time on it with her, when our own path was too much to handle at the time.
We can’t take the same exact path others have taken. We are, each of us, unique. Only your own trail will fit you. Our paths are not One Size Fits All. Your path is One Size Fits One. Of course, we will inevitably use each others’ paths on occasion. We can’t help it, cuz so much paving has already been done for us. And if someone ahead of us has blazed a fruitful and captivating path, we can take it and add our own detours which align with our individual destinations. We don’t have to lay every paver that ends up under our feet. Thank you, ancestors.
For example, I don’t have to fight to win the right to vote—even though I’m JUST a girl. A lot of somebodies already paved that trail for me. They “won” that right just for little ol’ me, so I don’t have to fight for it. Neither do you. I’ve got my right to vote, and with it comes a responsibility. To me, I am disrespectful of those who wrangled me that right if I don’t use it. And so I vote.
I am free to fight other fights that matter to me and the bigly planet. It’s my responsibility to fight those fights I can—most of which can be won by simple human kindness to/from all those involved. I am obligated to fight, and in so doing, change the world even the teensiest bit by setting down my own twisting and turning paver paths. Somebody is gonna need to use my road to make their own.
Whether you are aware of it or not, somebody’s always behind you on the path you pave. Actually, “multitudes” is probably closer to the count of those who look to you. Do you really want them to follow you? Are you comfortable with them seeing the road you’ve built? If you aren’t, you’ve done some evil paving, and you are running out of time to fix it. Get your tools out.
BTW The editor of THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, Jennifer Napier-Pierce was a presenter at the event. I realized she had been a student in a writing class I taught at the U of U in the late 80’s. I must have been an incredible teacher, if she’s now the editor of a statewide newspaper.
Another BTW It is “true” that THE TRIB is the “evil” newspaper of the two major papers in Salt Lake City, so only apostates read it.😜 Still, Mom and Dad were forever what I call TRIBBERS, as am I.