From Flowering to Promise Ring: A Year-Long Celebration

Shortly after we had Banvoa's Flowering Party, she started her cycle. Luckily the party was right on time. Banvoa was cheerful to proudly call the women in her sacred circle and announce that she was now a woman. We were proud of Banvoa reaching out to each woman in her sacred circle to hear from her that she is now naturally and biologically a woman.

As I have said in another article, the Flowering Party is to encourage the young girl not to be afraid of her menstrual cycle, but to embrace it as a natural phase her body experiences as a part of the reproductive system. The Flowering Party is a comforting moment of sharing and bonding between mother, daughter and other women who cherish and support the woman to be in her growth and maturity—a sacred circle of women who will always be available to her. In representing another opportunity for the young girl to better understand the biology of her body, the Flowering Party helps to build the girl's self-esteem and worth. Such awareness helps to cultivate more meaningful and mutually respectful relationships with boys. It may also assist in helping to curtail the national epidemic of teenage pregnancy by promoting abstinence as a method of birth control.

From month to month, I was teaching Banvoa how to take care of herself during her cycle. It wasn't a daunting task, just something I should naturally do. From mother to daughter. Banvoa as the newest member in our circle of women, we were happy to welcome her. I was grateful that the Flowering Party helped Banvoa be ready for her first menses. She was not afraid, which speaks to her increased self-esteem and her valuing her self-worth. The Flowering Party succeeded at its purpose.

During her flowering Banvoa drank the herbal teas from the loving mug she received from Ms. Rickenya, which was very comforting. For a year Banvoa and I practiced this ritual from month to month. After a year-long experience of strengthening our bond as mother and daughter, it was time to celebrate Banvoa again. This time it would be with a Promise Ring Gathering. Me, the sacred circle, and her dad would get back together and offer Banvoa a promise ring. A special ring to promise to embrace the sacredness of her body. Banvoa treated her body as sacred because she was abstinent for the first year of her flowering.

Being with Banvoa from month to month for a year was quick. I enjoyed being with her. She was developing into a young woman we all could be proud of. The Promise Ring Gathering affirmed Banvoa. She was indeed our beautiful flower—our lotus to love, comfort, and support. A year-long celebration from Flowering Party to Promise Ring Gathering taught us something important about ourselves. For women who had already for years have experienced their menses witness and experience the youngest woman in our circle be celebrated into this new circle of women. It was a blessing to behold. We all enjoyed it.

Each woman who attended wrote a reflection of how the Promise Ring Gathering impacted them, which is available in the back of the "I Am a Beautiful Flower: What Every Flowering Girl Should Know" book before the conclusion. Even the woman who couldn't make it to the Promise Ring Gathering shared her truth about what was shared. The reflections are amazing stories that every woman shares her truth. The book is lovingly and emotionally strong to be supportive of mothers and their daughters.

Thank you dear reader for participating in the discussion of a year-long celebration from flowering to Promise Ring Gathering.