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This morning I read a passage about Courage; I also realized that it was the anniversary of our beloved Maria Montessori, she died on May 6th, 1952, in Noordwijk. Why do I bring this up?

About two years ago I wrote in my Blog (gearforchildren.com) about the women that had the courage to begin their journeys in life with a bravery that marked their perseverance and integrity.

Maria Montessori, for her time, was a very “brave” woman who defied and broke the paradigm that “only men were able to go to college and study medicine”. She succeeded and became the first female doctor in Italy, on top of creating a whole new education philosophy that she totally believed in and still stands today…she certainly had the courage to stand by her passion and stick to it! My mom started her pretty amazing, adventurous and “brave” journey, when she married my dad more than 65 years ago; she had only left her native city of The Hague during the war, because my grandparents were not able to manage during those difficult times; when she got married, she had never been outside The Netherlands. She only did so to “embark” in this incredible journey with my dad when the KLM send him to work in New Guinea, by that time a Dutch Colony, located on the other side of the world….

Both of these women represent so many things that I believe in today, their values and significance in my life were many, and today although they both are no longer with us physically, they still are, for me an example to follow. Thank you both for being a beacon on my journey !!