Statement on the passing of Geraldine Ferraro

Traditional gender roles were shattered when, in 1984, then Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro was picked to be the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.  Mothers called their daughters and people stopped what they were doing to talk about how a woman could actually be one heartbeat away from the Presidency in their generation.

 

For me, as a senior in high school, it was a tangible affirmation of what my parents had always told me: that I could do or be anything I wanted to be if I worked hard at it.  I would graduate into a world of more possibility for women than ever before.

 

Geraldine Ferraro understood the significance of her nomination, telling America after her selection: “American history is about doors being opened, doors of opportunity for everyone, no matter who you are, as long as you’re willing to earn it.”  Thanks to Geraldine Ferraro, and a long-line of women before her, I and many other women have been able to walk through the doors they opened. 

 

She will be truly missed.  My thoughts and prayers are with her family and I thank them for sharing her with us.