The second annual open-mike event for women at the Davenport YWCA is Thursday (tonight) at seven. It’s called “That Takes Ovaries,” based on a book of that name by Rivka Solomon, and celebrates the brave things that ordinary, everyday women do. Amanda Greubel (GROO’-bill) is a social worker who counsels pregnant women and young mothers who have a history of drug abuse. She says the program’s to celebrate the making of decisions that are right for the women who make them. It can be something big you consider brave, or something small you’ve done that was difficult, and some of the stories are about good decisions, some perhaps not so good but right for that woman at that time. Gruebel says the open-mike events have grown in popularity and are being held all over the country and the world. She attended last year’s “That Takes Ovaries” event in the Quad Cities. One of her favorite stories came from a woman who got up the nerve to leave an abusive marriage and also to pursue the career in law-enforcement she’d always wanted, and after becoming a sheriff’s deputy, the woman was there when her ex was arrested for not paying child support, and got the pleasure of locking his jail cell. Women share their poetry, one told of leaving a successful marketing career to travel with Habitat for Humanity, and another related her husband’s proposal of marriage, when she said “before I say Yes or No, let’s talk about housework.” There’s another event later this month, March 27 in Waterloo. For the background and list of open-mike “That Takes Ovaries” events, see the website at http://thattakesovaries.org/
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