In honor of recently celebrated Mother’s Day, the women’s discussion group based out of the Riverbend Riverside West Apartment complex in West New York held a special gathering for mothers and daughters this past Monday beginning at 8 p.m.
“We’re here to celebrate and strengthen the bond between mother and daughter,” said NaTishia Aromire, 32, organizer of the women’s group. “That’s the strongest bond a woman can have. Our mother has a strong impact on who we become as women.”
Aromire explained that the overall purpose of the group is to empower women when they make decisions in their personal lives. The group generally deals with a variety of women’s issues from health to business, and celebrating the inner beauty and strength of a woman. It’s completely open to the public, not just for the residents of the Riverbend apartments.
Aromire is a motivational speaker and provides customer service training. She also conducts public seminars to empower women, including a series called Big Girls Make It, which has to do with self-confidence and success not size.
“It’s my passion to empower women and teen girls,” said Aromire.
Mothers and daughters
The topic for that night was how the relationship between mothers and daughters affected their daily decisions. “Some mothers don’t realize the effect they have on their daughters,” said Aromire. “Tonight it gives them the opportunity to share all that.”
That night’s group of women was made up of about eight different women from all walks of life, and one little girl who accompanied her mother and grandmother.
The setting was intimate and comfortable, and after some brief introductions, the discussions got underway with a quick opening game. A questionnaire was given out entitled, “How well do you know your mother/daughter?” There was about 10 questions worth one point each, and were only for the mothers and daughters present. Many of the women proved that they did know each other rather well, but still gave some surprising answers.
Afterwards, discussion was opened up by a guest speaker, one of the women in the group, who spoke about honoring and respecting not just the mother, but the father and adults. This sparked some debate among the women, and they started to touch upon issues of discipline and affirmation when it came to raising children. They also shared personal stories of their families and cultures.
“I enjoyed [Gopi Narayanan’s] views in light of talking about how it is in India, and learning about another culture,” said Elaine Watkins, 55, retired probation officer.
“I think it got off to a slow start, but it hit very essential issues,” said Lili Weitzen, a freelance journalist. “Women as a people, women as daughters, women as mothers, and how we all relate to it; understanding other people’s perspectives.”
A second speaker talked about her experiences as a mother, and stories of her family.
“I was very interested to come today and see what everybody thinks,” said Gopi Narayanan, 56, president of Soroptimist International, a social service organization based in India.
The women continued to interject and express their thoughts on the topics that would arise, and shared much of themselves as well. One woman expressed her feelings toward her mother, especially after the death of her father while she was still in her teens and how that affected areas of her life.
Another woman shared her odyssey dealing with step-children, and how difficult that barrier between a stepmother and kids can be.
The meeting could have continued for hours, but it was getting late and the women decided to disperse. “I think the seminar was great,” said Tarcheka Peterkin, 29, a special education teacher in Westchester County and Watkins’ daughter. “We were able to think about how important our mothers are to our lives. I enjoyed sharing this experience with my mother.”
“Well, to me as a visitor, it’s a new experience, but I think it was lovely,” said Narayanan. “There was a lot of interaction.”
The seminar closed with another activity. Aromire passed out Hersey’s kisses to everyone, and asked the mothers and daughters to give them to each other while sharing a thankful thought. There were also gift bags raffled off and awarded to the women who won in the activities.
The group regularly meets once a month in the theater room of the Riverbend Apartments, and is treated as a social circle for women to come and get to know each other. For the next event there will be information on how women can start their own business.
All the seminars are free, and open to women all over the community. For information about the seminars coming up women can reach Aromire at (888) 326-2676.
“I figured if you’re going to be part of a community, you need to get to know your community,” said Aromire.