This series started with a comparison of women's opportunities to their grandmother's. We end with how those opportunities play out in our daily lives. In between, we looked at women's choices, images, employment and relationships. Thanks to the 250 adults and 450 students who wrote in. I hope they got us all thinking.
- Cynthia Henry, assistant editor
A generation of women who have choices When my grandmother was alive, she would tell me of her life on Island Avenue in Philadelphia. She lived in a small bungalow with her husband and three children. She had her chores lined up every week: Monday, wash day; Tuesday, housecleaning; and so on. In the afternoons, the women on her street (most of them relatives) would gather in their backyards and chat while the children (mostly cousins) played together. My grandmother's lifestyle of simple pleasures seemed like nirvana as I rushed through my hectic days of car pools, soccer and school commitments.
My father and mother were the first in their families to pursue college educations. My father received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Notre Dame and his doctorate from Case Western. My mother went back to school after having four children to earn her degree in education. My siblings and I were encouraged to go to college, and by 1983, my brother and I had both received degrees from Notre Dame.
I went to work for an investment firm after college and, within a few years, was offered a position with another company to sell large pension plans in New York City. Contemplating my new office and the promise of a huge salary at such a young age, I accepted.
