Portraits of Women - Part 1
M Fall morning- weekday. Squeezing in a walk between meetings with half an eye on my phone for work messages. On my way back, met this elderly lady walking her three dogs - I have seen her before, always with her dogs. Stopped to pet her dogs, two sisters and a brother. Dogs wanted more attention, and we started talking. About the weather, her ten-year-old dogs coming from the same litter, her walking times. The conversation geared from love for her dogs, to some owners mistreating their pets and the general unkindness and cruelty in the larger world. A moment of empathy between two women. Floodgates opened. Her thoughts went back - to the early years of her marriage and her verbally abusive, narcissistic husband. Forced pregnancies. His attempts to manipulate her, the children. Years after their divorce, him continuing to threaten her and disrupt her life. Showing up wherever she moved. Shared our common fear of the upcoming elec...