Blog Posts By Christy Turlington Burns

As we enter May today it will come as no surprise that we have Mothers on our minds here at EMC, just as we do every day. But with Mother’s Day coming up on the 12th we wanted to expand upon that isolated date by initiating a conversation we hope will take us from where we were at this time last year with our NO Mothers Day Campaign to a point this year where we can really say we KNOW Mother’s Day.

The set up at the house is dorm style. We are sharing a room on the ground floor with Cara. Clancy was assigned the top bunk since she is the youngest. There are seven bedrooms and lots of beds. This place can sleep 15 if necessary. There are always volunteers coming through and staying for various periods of time. Many return annually and have done so consistently since the beginning. Sage Femmes Pou Ayiti has come a long way, even since last year.

The Global Mom Relay is a first-of-its-kind virtual relay with a goal of improving the lives of women and children around the globe.

I’m proud of how much of this community rallied through February to sign and share our petition to female members of Congress asking them to stand up for women going forward. And as we were going door to door on Capital Hill delivering our message yesterday, VAWA was passed and everyone's energy soared reaffirming the purpose of our visits. Now that March has arrived, bringing with it a great sense of urgency and growing momentum, we look forward to growing our community even further. March brings us International Women's Day and Women's History month, which provide opportunities to reflect on our sisters all around the world and to honor those who laid the groundwork for the lives we live today.

February 6th is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, which is observed each year to raise awareness about a practice that impacts the health and lives of approximately 140 million girls and women every year. In fact, about 3 million girls and women will undergo this procedure in unsterile conditions, usually without anesthesia by untrained traditional “cutters.”

As we enter February and inch our way toward spring together, we aim to warm our hearts and sharpen our minds. Winter is birthday season in my family. Between us, my husband and I celebrated my birthday, my sister's birthday and his birthday in January. In February, there are even more birthdays, beginning with my nephew's, then my sister-in-law, my son, my younger sister and last but not least my brother-in-law! There is a lot to celebrate and so much to be grateful for always, but there is nothing like birth days to make one consider and appreciate just how wonderful it is to be alive, to be human, to be healthy…

A quick jaunt to London last week was all it took for me to get into the Holiday spirit. There the streets and store windows were practically screaming Christmas. I returned home to multiple advent calendars newly opened and in use, a chocolate and Lego version for each child - thank you Aunt Mary and Grandma! We finally picked out our tree over the weekend and now it stands partially decorated. Tonight will be phase two of the process. There are only a few weeks before we head west for the Christmas break. We take turns each year alternating between spending the holidays with the majority of my family in California and my husband's family in New York. This year we will pray for good enough weather to fly out in time to spend a few days with our west coast family and friends before Christmas eve. One year it took us three attempts during a snowstorm before we finally made it. I get together with all my high school girlfriends and their families every time I get the chance so our children can play together and we can catch up.