Dear Rose # 1 - the introduction

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

This is the first of many letters that I’m going to write to you. I’m excited to be your friend and guide, but I just want to say: I can’t fix you. I know women of our age often want to be fixed because—without sounding like a victim—we’ve suffered for so long.

All that body-shaming stuff of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s? It was bullshit then, and since it’s coming back, it’s bullshit now (just saying). We’ve benefited a lot from feminism, but so have the men of our generation. We were taught we can have it all and do it all, but we didn’t get taught about boundaries or burnout.

No one got us ready for menopause. No one. Our mums didn’t talk about it, or maybe we weren’t listening because we were too busy doing it all and having it all—but fuck, I wish we’d been warned. Don’t you?

So you can see, there’s too much for one person to fix, and really, these were just the headlines. There’s so much more we’ve been carrying. But I can offer you a soft place to land, a listening ear, and a nod of recognition. I know how it feels to live with grief and pain and burnout. I also know how it is to live with love and joy and wonder. Luckily, we are allowed to have both.

Welcome home, Rose.

Speak soon,

Em xxx