It is a difficult burden to be the eldest daughter. Maybe you know something about this, in your own experience. Maybe you have been an eldest daughter yourself. Maybe you have relied on an eldest daughter for help. Maybe you have been the friend of someone in “eldest daughter” mode. (For that matter, you may not be a daughter or even a woman, but you may have been asked to step into that role.)

Our homes and families rely on the care of women so often, and the eldest daughter is often called to step up when parents are too old to be caregivers, and need to be given care themselves. Sometimes an eldest daughter steps into this role when she is already an adult, even an older adult. Sometimes she does when she is still a child.

Families are complicated, and the challenges of life are unpredictable. And it is not realistic to imagine a world in which no eldest daughters are ever asked to fulfill this role of advanced, urgent caregiving. But a month focused on equity is a chance to recall how important ideas around equity are when we think about emotional labor. The more that all of us show up to do the emotional and caregiving work that often falls as a burden to a few, loving children, the more we can all share in the life-affirming and value-centering experience of caring for one another.

The need is not going anywhere––we will all continue to need one another. But how can we share in that need? How can we make care and giving care to one another a more central part in what we do, so that we bring equity into our relationships with one another?

Sometimes it is hard to tap into our spiritual selves or find time to nurture our creativity and intellectual curiosity. Here is a section that reflects on some nourishing materials from around the web and related media channels in order to get us thinking, get us feeling, and get us reflecting on the lives we are living in this big world. **Some Adult/Mature Themes May Appear in Links and Other Attached Material**

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Allan T. Georgia, MDiv, MTS, PhD

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