Woman's Song: Female Spiritual and Religious Pioneers
Posted: 11/02/2012 10:13 am
Rev. Malcolm Boyd.
Bestselling author, Episcopal priest, and gay elder
Storytelling -- sharing our stories -- is one of the most important things we do. This is Beatrice's story. What is significant is her legacy of service to others. This began in 1918-19 when the U.S. influenza epidemic became a national tragedy.
Born in 1898, Beatrice was a young woman when she volunteered as a nursing assistant in the epidemic. Working on a Navajo reservation, she served as a schoolteacher and a nurse. Later Beatrice told me that when a child died during the night it was her responsibility to give it a quiet and immediate burial in an effort to allay fears of other students.
For her volunteer work she was later awarded a certificate by the U.S. Public Health Service "as an expression of appreciation for patriotic service voluntarily rendered." Shortly afterward, she was married. Beatrice was my mother. Always her life was marked by a strong element of service. I remember that over many years she volunteered as a teacher at the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.
A familiar image was one of my mother hand laundering her white hospital uniform and neatly pressing it. Always she was very disciplined about her public service. Once a youngster at the hospital said to Beatrice "You're old, aren't you?" Beatrice allowed she was (she was in her 80s). "Good," he exclaimed. "Then I can talk to you."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-malcolm-boyd/womans-song-female-spiritual-and-religious-pioneers_b_2040466.html
