When women gather, we talk.
We tell stories. We listen. We laugh. We cry.
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Sometimes the stories are ours. Sometimes they belong to our best friend, our grandmother, our mother, our daughter, or someone we’ve never met but whose life quietly shaped our own.
Without that clipping, that story might have disappeared...
Stories help us relate to one another. They help us understand where we’ve come from, make sense of where we are, and imagine where we’re going.
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Lately, I’ve been thinking about how many incredible stories disappear because no one writes them down.
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One of my own favourite family stories is about my grandparents. Before they came to Canada, they set out for what was supposed to be a simple day of sailing. Instead, they were lost at sea for three days and nearly drowned. I still have the newspaper clipping from their rescue.
It made me wonder…
How many other remarkable stories are sitting in photo albums?
Old newspaper clippings, family conversations, or memories that only one person still remembers?
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That’s why I’m beginning When Women Gather, a Living Better Community Legacy Project.
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I’m inviting women and families throughout our community to share the stories they believe deserve to be remembered.
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Maybe it’s the story of building a business or it could be immigrating to Canada.
Maybe it’s coming out to your family or your very favourite recipe.
Maybe it’s motherhood or a design aesthetic you grew up seeing time and again.
Maybe it’s caregiving. Or losing everything and beginning again.
Maybe it’s an act of quiet courage that changed one person’s life forever.
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The stories don’t have to be famous.
They don’t have to be perfect.
They simply have to matter to you.
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If someone came to mind while reading this, I’d love to hear the story. Send me a note. Tell me a little about her story. Together, we’ll begin gathering the women who helped shape this place, one story at a time. You’re welcome to submit a story privately. Your name and contact information will only be visible to me. If your story is shared publicly, it can be published with your name, with initials, or anonymously, depending on your preference.