women – Page 3 – Irene North

This morning, I sent emails to Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and my state representative, Senator John Stinner. Last month, the legislature narrowly defeated a bill that would have banned abortion in the state. Since the SCOTUS draft leak, Gov. Ricketts has been making the rounds in the media indicating he may call an emergency session of the state legislature to try and pass the bill again. He would like to ban all abortions, without exceptions for rape and/or incest.

I can rage on the internet all I want, but these two men are my only hope for abortion to remain legal in the state. I don’t know if my letter, my words, or my story would sway them to reconsider, but I had to try.

Trying to be yourself without offending anyone

By Irene

On December 15, 2021

In Ramblings

Dec. 1, was a good day. I spent my time with a friend in northwest Nebraska. I took a lot of pictures, had great conversations, and new stories to tell. Then, Dec. 2, happened. It was the kind of day that pulls the rug out from under you, upsets the apple cart, and destroys whatever good was going on in your life.

The things she gave me

By Irene

On June 11, 2021

In Gram

Me and Gram in the late 1970s.

When I was a child, I called her Grammy. All of my cousins did, too. As we grew older, she became Gram. All of our friends called her Gram. She is and will always be the biggest influence on my character.

An anniversary, of sorts

By Irene

On January 22, 2021

In Stories

Today is the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision, which saved my life in 1984.

Lorraine Schoeneberger

By Irene

On March 31, 2020

In Gram, Women

Gram at Uncle Dave’s fishing competition July, 15, 2007.

I grabbed the softball and turned it around in my glove until my first two fingers were set where I wanted them along the seams. I focused on the placement of the catcher’s mitt, ignoring where the batter would be. My task was to put the ball in the catcher’s mitt. That’s all I looked at. I stretched back and released the ball.

The women I know

By Irene

On March 30, 2020

In Women

Salma and Hendrik Kampen leave the mosque in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after wedding festivities.

Throughout history, there have been billions of women who have lived and died, and were inspirational to other women. Their stories were never written and we will never know who they are.

Matilda McCrear

By Irene

On March 29, 2020

In Women

She was taken from Africa when she was two years old. She was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Despite continued racism in the United States, she remained rebellious and was, in many respects, a woman ahead of her time.

Catherine the Great

By Irene

On March 28, 2020

In Women

She was supposed to have been married off to provide an “heir and a spare.” She came to power in a coup d’état that she organized and carried out. She made her country stronger, expanded its borders, and made it one of the great powers of Europe.

The Akashinga

By Irene

On March 27, 2020

In Women

Akashinga – The International Anti-Poaching Foundation. Photo by Brent Stirton.

They are a group of women who have survived domestic violence and rape. They were unwanted. Some were cast aside by their communities, but these women are taking on poachers, and winning. Their work is changing the way at-risk animals are protected in Africa and giving them a new purpose in life.