It was a happy day for Mizuno sneakers when Texas State Rep. Wendy Davis stood up on the floor of the Texas Legislature to filibuster for many hours against a bill she thought was unfair to women. The pink sneakers she wore became a symbol for many women of their need to stand in their truth as Wendy Davis did and the sneaker reviews on Amazon became the best-selling shoe reviews in the history of the sneaker industry. Rep. Davis lit up the Internet and Maria was mesmerized by this idea of standing in your truth, in this case, quite literally.

So I bought her a pair of the Pink Sneakers, I went on Amazon right away, as soon as I saw the stories about Wendy Davis and was told I bought the last one. The sneakers are expensive, and Maria doesn’t wear sneakers, and she doesn’t spent a lot of money on anything, so when the sneakers came, I caught the expected flak but saw she really liked them. She liked the shoes, but she identified with the symbolism even more. Like me, Maria avoids politics but she even wrote about Wendy Davis on her blog.

Maria is very interested in the notion of standing in one’s truth, she has learned how to do it in painful and often frightening steps, and I can tell you as one who lives with her, she has no issues about standing in her truth when I’m around.  If I tick her off, I get an earful, quickly and directly. As my friend Mary Kellogg told me when Maria and I got together, “good for you, Jon, Maria will keep you in line.” A prophesy, even if I never have any clean socks.

Abortion is an issue that has split the country, and there is very little real dialogue about, most people digging into entrenched positions and staying there. I identified with Wendy Davis also, but for me, the real issue here has always been allowing women to control their own lives, decisions and bodies. All across the country I see what seem to me to be angry older white men passing all kinds of laws telling women what they can and can’t do. I know many women feel strongly on this issue also, but when I saw those men in Texas saying a lot of dumb things about women and their health, I knew I had to stand in my former girlfriend’s shoes too.  Freedom is freedom, it isn’t what some grumpy old men decide it is. So I went back on Amazon, and fortunately, there are no pink sneakers available for men, as that would cause some serious eye-brow raising in my neighborhood, but they did have some Navy Blue sneakers in my size, so I ordered them and they came today.

I am happy to wear these shoes, it is probably obvious how I feel about the abortion issue, but that is not the point for me. I believe women like my wife are ascending, I believe they are a great hope and promise for the world. I believe they will gain political power in this country and elsewhere, their time has come, and they can make their own decisions about abortion and other issues. I believe it is time for men to step aside, they are ruining the world, warring endlessly, committing violence, rape and genocide all over the globe, destroying economics in their greed and aggressiveness and ruining the planet in their corporate greed and arrogance. Beyond that, their sorry history of aggression and domination disqualifies men to tell women anything, except they will be supported in their time, which is coming.

I am happy to stand in my wife’s shoes, walk for women like Wendy Davis, who have overcome great hardship to lead meaningful lives, and I am happy to put my new sneakers on and stand in the new truth of women and their chance to make the world a better, safe and more loving place. My wife is one of those women, and she filibusters every day for love, connection and the best parts of the human spirit.