The Greatest of the Greatest Generation of Women - a Tribute to My Mother
My mother Sharon Mansfield Weinstein passed away at the age of 90 having lived a truly blessed life. I’m the youngest of the four incredible people my parents made together – and I’m honored to pay tribute to our Mom and her legacy.
I was thinking that normally when I hear the term “the greatest generation” I too often think of the men who fought in WWII, men like my mother’s beloved brothers Larry and Bob Mansfield and my father-in- law Elliot Sherman.
But as I think of my mother and her legacy - I realize now that she was among the greatest generation too - the greatest generation of women to have an impact on our world.
These women rose out of a time of great challenge in the world to grow themselves and their families – changing how women were perceived and paving a path not only for their own children but for all women.
My mother became part of this greatest generation by surrounding herself for her whole life with a circle of girlfriends who she was connected to her whole life. Some still know her all the way back to her days at Hunter College as a member of the alpha chapter of Phi Sig. She always told me “Pamela, if you are lucky you will make one great friend from each time of your life.” She had so many more and from her example, I have too.
She devoted herself to life-long learning beginning in college when she became enamored by the life and studies of Margaret Mead to study Anthropology. But like many of her generation rather than proceeding further with those studies, she acceded to her father’s wishes and became a teacher.
She was married to my father for 51 years and theirs was a passionate love affair and also an incredibly driven partnership. While they played mostly traditional roles, he fully supported her work, and she supported his. They raised their children together and taught us what it meant to value the arts, education and have a work ethic.
Finally after having four children, supporting her husband’s practice as an OB/GYN and working as a teacher, she pursued her own ambitions by returning to school to receive a Master's in Education and eventually studying to become a psychotherapist, treating patients until she was 86 years old.
My mother lived a life of true hyperbole – she wanted everything around her to be the “BEST of the BEST” and bigger than life – from her fashion to her cooking to her travels around the world. She was the best of Auntie Mame and the Unsinkable Molly Brown combined. And even after my father died way too soon, she bravely continued on, living a life of bold independence and devoted connection to her family.
She and the other famous women of her generation like Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Iris Apfel, Dr. Ruth Westheimer and others - to me, truly formed the greatest generation of women – teaching the next generation to dream big dreams, to demand the best from others and mostly from ourselves, to love deeply and with great energy and passion, and most of all reminding us, that we can make a difference as much with who we are, as with what we do.
Of course for me, my mother was the greatest of her greatest generation. I was blessed to be her daughter and am lucky that she inspired me and so many others to be our greatest selves.
She was the very definition of an Outlaw Leader– an irreverent woman who lived her life fully for her family, community and herself. She taught me all about Outlaw Leadership™ and she had an EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow & Excite™ in the best possible way.
And I’m an Outlaw Leader because of her.
