Today I march from bed. Feverish child clinging to my side, headache and sore throat after a week of night shifts, evening shifts and birthdays. Exhausted I watch as women rise, as they walk. I’m was sad I missed it until I realized all the ways we march.

We march when we show up. We march when we hold space for our friends who are grieving and when we cry tears for babies marginalized from birth.

We march when we support woman after woman to rise, to birth their babies, through the pushing and the cutting, through the recovery and the waiting. We walk alongside when their babies are too sleepy, when they cry and when they are sick. We comfort and medicate and soothe when moms are sleepy or they are sick.

We march when we find ways to let our friends and sisters know we are there for them in times of deep pain or small. We march with a smile, a kind word or even a joke after a hard night.

We march when we invest in our daughter’s having healthy relationships with other girls. We march by opening our hearts and our homes to the girls they love, we march through the noise and the mess. We march by teaching our kids what they have and how much they are loved so that they in turn may give and love.

We march by believing to the marrow of the bone that we are worthy of love. We march when we learn to love ourselves for all our goodness and our weakness, for our mistakes and our strengths. When we love ourselves and know our own worth, it’s easier to see it elsewhere.

So today I lie here and watch so many I know and love rise up for love, speak out as women standing for change and I am filled with hope and grattitude.

So to those who march with their feets and their bodies, with their signs and their daughters and sons, mothers and husbands I thank you.

To those who march by investing in my daughters, in my children by teaching and inspiring them in school, in church, in brownies. I thank you.

To the moms who marched by showing up today to celebrate mine, who answered the call to feed the kids of our city who are hungry, the moms who share driving and child care and volunteering, I thank you.

To the women who lead, the ones who see a need and use their powers of organization and inspiration to grow non-profits like Made by Momma and Brown Bagging it for Kids so that moms can be cared for and children fed. To the writers and podcasters and dreamers who put their words and work into the world to encourage and inspire. I thank you and I support you.

To my husband who stayed up last night to bake cupcakes reminding me that just as women are capable of running companies, so are men capable of running a home. We are better together; when we guard each other’s weak side, When we take turns sprinting and resting, passing the baton.

So today we march as a big gesture, a needed gesture, a declaration to the world that we belong to each other, that we the people believe in love and value each other,

Tomorrow we march in a million little ways. The minutes, dollars and the words of the day can be spent in so many ways. I hope that we can spend as many as we can on loving and living well. That we can march fingers to keyboard, whispers to ears. That the things we say and actions we take say over and over I am valued. You are valued. We are valued.

March on into tomorrow, holding each other up, being real and being there for each other, showing our true selves and loving the imperfections and talents in ourselves and others. May we be strong women and love strong women, in turn giving permission to those around us to find their strength and their voice. May we raise strong daughters who love themselves and know their might, just as we raise sons who know they are loved for their whole selves emotions included.

Today in many hearts we feel the broken hallelujah. While we may not march in victory, we rise together joined by our broken hallelujah for where there is much darkness the light always shines brighter.