Yesterday, Thurs. Jan. 4, 2007, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) was sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the United States of America.

A woman of my mother's generation, a woman who got married at 20, a woman who was a stay at home mom, a woman who entered the work world as a congresswoman at age 49, a woman who has been married for 43 years, that woman, this Nancy Pelosi is now second-in-line for the Presidency of the United States of America. The third most powerful person in our nation.

Thank God. Thank God. Thank God. The marble ceiling has been broken.

To my mother, the woman who in her twenties, in the early 1960s, was repeatedly told that women could only be teachers or nurses. To my mother, the woman who was denied entrance into the family business in any capacity other than a secretary due to her gender. To my mother, the woman who was born the same year as Nancy Pelosi. To my mother, the woman who has been a mother, a teacher, and a activist, I dedicate this post.

To all the women of my mother's and Nancy's generation, Thank You All for breaking the Glass and Marble ceilings!

A quote from Rep. Pelosi's acceptance speech from SFGate.com:

"And I thank my constituents in San Francisco and to the state of California for the privilege of representing them in Congress. Saint Francis of Assisi is our city's patron saint, and his song of St. Francis is our city's anthem: 'Lord, make me a channel of thy peace; where there is darkness may we bring light, where there is hatred, may we bring love, and where there is despair, may we bring hope.'

"Hope, hope, that is what America is about and it is in that spirit that I was sent to Congress.

"And today, I thank my colleagues. By electing me speaker, you have brought us closer to the ideal of equality that is America's heritage and America's hope.

"This is an historic moment -- and I thank the leader for acknowledging it. I think you Leader Boehner. It is an historic moment for the Congress, and an historic moment for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited over 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them.