What Does True Love Mean? Here's A Chance to Say

Women~SV is inviting all women to a Valentine's Day event that is about, what else? Love.

It's called "Women Rising in Los Altos," part of One Billion Rising.

The purpose: To gather at the Main Street Cafe to describe true love.

Far from dreamy, fairy tale-like love, true love needs to be recognized in clear-eyed expressions for this event.

"I want to encourage women to come together here in Los Altos in a positive, empowering way to address this issue and to celebrate our strength and courage and love," said Ruth Patrick, founder and executive director of the  non-profit organization that advises and supports women in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills who are in abusive relationships.

"I'm also inviting people to bring a poem or song or valentine to share that expresses what healthy love looks like." Most violence against women takes place in intimate relationships, she added.

She asks, does love mean respect? Compassion? Forgiveness? Sharing of dreams?

WOMEN~SV began nearly a year ago and is a program of the Los Altos Community Foundation. Patrick began it to raise awareness about domestic violence in middle-to-upper-income areas like Los Altos and to offer information and resources to women to help them deal with it more effectively.

Space is limited, so register via EventBrite.

Below is her invitation to all women in and around Los Altos and Los Altos Hills:

On Valentine's Day February 14, please join us at noon in downtown Los Altos for our "Women Rising in Los Altos” event. If you’re hungry, you can order lunch, a snack, or just coffee/tea.

February 14 is the day of One Billion Rising (http://onebillionrising.org), a day on which one billion women all around the world will stand up, walk out, dance, or take to the streets in response to this statistic:

1 in 3 women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.

On this day, WOMEN~SV, in collaboration with: 1) the Cardea Center for Women; 2) At The Well; 3) Women and Money: Lifting the Fog Salon; 4) Calling out the Brilliance of Women, and other local women’s groups are inviting supportive women and men in our community to rise up with people all around the world in celebration of our strength, hope, courage, power—and love! We also invite you to join with us in affirming our commitment to work together towards a world in which every woman and child lives in safety, peace, and freedom.

Bring a poem, a song, a flower, or valentine to share what healthy love means to you. Is it respect, forgiveness, patience, compassion, the sharing of hopes, and dreams? The sharing of power, wealth, responsibility? What does it mean to you?

Bring something to share or just bring yourself. But do join us! Because it's an important day, a historic day, the day the tide turns and women rise up to show the world the meaning of true love.

Thursday, February 14 at Noon
Main Street Café (134 Main Street in downtown Los Altos).
Space is limited so please RSVP by Tuesday Feb 12 via this link.