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  • Jillian Bleackley

She's Not Just A Pretty Face- Part 1




I was inspired to create a series of posts by a podcast called Girlboss Radio that I was recently listening to on my Google Play. It was all about mentorship and supporting women in their careers and in their daily lives. Somehow this podcast turned into naming the women who inspire you. Well, here's part one of mine!


Sandy Bleackley

I figured that I should start with the woman who gave birth to me thirty-two years ago. I am the source of many grey hairs and probably worry lines on her face, but she loves me unconditionally. I honestly don't think that I have ever seen her cry, wait, that's a lie. I did a speech at the Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia last year and she cried like a baby while I was trying to do my speech. She has a quiet strength and a very dry sense of humor. You don't get to hear her laugh very often, but when you do it's music to your ears- because it's a guffaw of laughter. We are forty years apart in age, but yet she is one of my best friends. I cherish our Skype phone calls everyday, even though she hates being on camera. She would rather Skype me over the phone. She is content to be behind the scenes. Perhaps you may think this is a love fest, but if you knew my mom and our relationship you'd definitely understand the lengths that she will go to me. She has helped make many of my dreams come true and she has one of the single most driving forces throughout my entire life.


Pink

This next person is someone I totally respect and admire just for what she stands for. She doesn't take any shit from anyone, and yet there seems to be a vulnerable side and she seems very down-to-earth. How would I know this when I've never even met her? Well, it's just a feeling and perhaps I'm glamorizing her just a little bit because I want her to be the person that I've built her up to be in my mind. I know she hasn't had it easy. I've read articles about her losing friends and even taking drugs. I am writing about Pink because she is a big influence on me and, hey, if you've seen my hair in the last three years that would give you a major clue.


Lindsay Mitchell

This next person we all know and love. She is such a free spirit and outgoing. I've been lucky enough to know her for thirty-two years, and have memories to last a lifetime. Wait, that sounds like the beginning of a eulogy. Sorry Lindsay! We have cried together, laughed hysterically and made it through some pretty rough stuff. I know I already a wrote a blog for her, but I just can't say enough about my sister. She's always there for me when it counts. She's always stuck up for me and got my back, and is the most loyal person I know. Lindsay inspires her students using her amazing creativity. For example, she has single-handedly written the play for her school's spring production. It's called 10 Feet Tall. You can see it in the 2020 at Langley Fine Arts School. She does all of this while raising two amazing kids with her husband Arnie.


Emma Watson

I love this next actress so much, not only as Hermione Granger but as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I never knew that she could sing so well, and sweetly. She portrayed the role of Belle very well. In real life and more serious matters, Emma Watson is a driving force in the #metoo movement and set up a helpline for women who have been harassed or sexually abused in the workplace. I guess because she's around my age, I would really love for her to play me in my TV movie. Ha ha! Like that's ever going to happen.


Chrissy Bleackley

This next fantastic fantabulous woman is my sister-in-law Chrissy Bleackley who I have known since I was sixteen. She's married to my amazing brother and I consider her one of my best friends as well. She is a stay-at-home mom, and as Oprah says, that's the hardest job in the world. She gets her son and daughter off to hockey practice or soccer whenever they need to go, but still has time to win bodybuilding competitions and talk to me whenever I need a friend or a shoulder to lean on. She is an inspiration! She also won't take shit from anybody and she is a beautiful person inside and out.

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