I was leading a workshop at a non-profit organization that serves low-income women.  A woman new to the program walked in and listened intently as the discussion covered a variety of topics.  At one point this woman interrupted my discussion and said “you seem to know a lot of things about a lot of things so I’m wondering – how do you know all these things?”  After a moment to consider the question I said there are a lot of things that seem as though I’ve always known them.  Perhaps some of them are things my parents always told me and so some things I don’t remember not knowing.  The next question out of this woman’s mouth changed me when she said:  “Can I tell you something?”  “I was raised by pimps and whores and they didn’t teach me those things.  Who will teach me now?”

We don’t all have the same starting point.  What could we teach one another if there were a place of non-judgement that invited women to just be women.  What could we learn about ourselves?  So much.  Another reason we need a place like Elizabeth’s House.