Sisterhood
We have shown up for each other,
again and again –
in the darker and harder moments,
and in the joyful and celebratory moments.
We have shown up with our homemade soups
and grocery-store-bought dinners.
We have shown up with our sleeves rolled up
ready to clean up the mess
and our arms open ready to give a hug.
We have shown up with words of encouragement
and our silent presence when no words could help.
We have shown up at a moment’s notice
and when we’ve heard the quaver in each other’s voice.
We have shown up in the middle of the night
and early in the morning.
We have shown up with presents and sweet treats,
cards and balloons.
We have shown up with the number for a good
lawyer, therapist, treatment center, and doctor.
We have shown up to cheer each other on –
in the race, the presentation, the promotion,
the art show, the awards ceremony.
We have shown up to comfort each other –
in the loss, the waiting, the panic, the horror.
We have shown up for births and deaths
and house warmings and BBQs and baptisms
and diagnoses and throw up and throwing things
and messes and tragedies and coffees and lunches
and birthdays and anniversaries and graduations
and talks on the porch and talks off the ledge.
We have shown up.
For generations and generations,
women have been showing up for each other.
Even if we don’t know what to say,
even if we don’t have a solution or answer,
even if it is awkward and uncomfortable
and unbearable and heartbreaking –
we have shown up.
We hold hands, we bless each other,
we cry, we laugh, we carry, we break,
we bury, we rebuild, we rally, we fight,
we begin again – together.
We show up.
That’s what we do for each other.
We show up –
with coffee and blankets,
with playlists of old songs,
with stories that remind us of
who we are.
We show up –
to watch our children,
to walk the dog, to water the plants,
to move a couch, to paint a room,
to pick up groceries and ice cream
and broken pieces of our heart.
We show up –
to braid hair, to sew a hem,
to shop for that perfect shade of lipstick,
to pick out a dress for the wedding
and the funeral.
We show up –
to throw away the bottles,
to walk out the door, to quit the job,
to figure out next steps.
We show up –
when the road ahead is uncertain,
when we don’t have the courage to continue,
when hope is dwindling,
when dreams feel too impossible.
We show up –
to witness, to honor, to lift up,
to sit with, to stand beside,
to remind each other that
we are not alone.
We show up –
and this is the beauty, fierceness
and promise of sisterhood that we have inherited
and we will pass on to the next generation.
Showing up is in our blood.
This is sisterhood.
So it was, is, and will be.
Lisa McCrohan © 2025
(I am now writing on Substack: Delightful by Lisa McCrohan. Come join me! I’ll be sharing my writings there now.)
This past week, I hurt my shoulder pretty bad. I rested for a few days. When I needed to get outside for a short walk and fresh air, but I was still in pain, I called my neighbor and asked if she’d take a slow walk around the block with me. “Of course,” she said. “I’d love to,” she said. We walked slowly and shared some of the pain we are both experiencing right now – physical and emotional. We shared our questions that don’t have solutions, and hopeful signs, and things we can’t stand and worry about, and things we treasure and love. It was maybe a 15 minute walk, but at the end, we lingered under the giant weeping cherry tree in my front yard and hugged and hugged (me with one arm!). And we both went back into our day feeling lighter, seen, and accompanied.
I tell my teenage daughter that there is something so special about friendships with other women. We “get” each other. We show up for each other. And she will come to treasure this sisterhood.
Yes, there are plenty of examples of girls and women tearing each other down (I wrote a blog post about this years ago that speaks of an experience I had in middle school, and this post still goes viral today). But now as a 51 year old woman, I have many, many more examples in my life of women showing up for one another – of different creed, skin color, religion, job title, status, age, and even political stance.
We show up at births and deaths and everything in between to laugh, cry, lose it, wonder, dream, and figure out what’s next. We know how to sit and be with each other. We know how to uplift and cheer each other on.
We show up.
Think about the women in your own life – who has shown up for you? In big ways and everyday ways. Who have you shown up for?
This has been going on for generations and generations. Even when there are forces that would try to prevent us from showing up, we somehow find a way. Sisterhood will continue. It will grow. It will deepen. It will expand. It is a force that has and will continue to change the world.
Blessings,
Lisa
Blessings,