Cherie Marti, April 1999

These words by Clarissa serve well to describe our April 1999 Honorary Wild Wolf Woman of the Month. Cheri Marti, better known to her packmates as LadyWolf, is an example of how an ordinary woman can rediscover the essence of the wild wolf woman within herself, and as a result, accomplish extraordinary things and truly make a positive difference.

In Cheri’s own words:

"When I was growing up, for some reason still unknown to me I didn’t have the confidence or self esteem that I seemed to finally develop over the years. I remember having a very difficult time during school....not feeling as though I belonged. It was awful. I just didn’t feel as good as the other kids."

Those childhood and teen years were difficult years for Cheri...ones in which, like many young women who struggle to find purpose and validation, she made some bad choices. Many such women spend their lives trying to find their own self worth in a way they never will...by searching for it in the reflection of themselves in others’ eyes. But, hers is not such a sad story.

Upon her graduation from high school, our honoree summoned strength and courage from somewhere deep within herself and began to leave her self-destructive lifestyle and pursue a different path. Despite having been long surpressed, once her spirit was aroused, it would not be denied. Immediately after graduation, Cheri surprised everyone by taking charge of her life and making a big change. She enlisted in the military. Although her journey in the years ahead wasn’t always a straight road, and did involve some backtracking...over time, by learning to heed her own instincts and intuition, she learned to trust herself, like herself, take pride in herself, and stretched herself to become the very best woman she could be.

Today, this beautiful young woman, wife, and mother of two, has become the first and youngest civilian administrator of the police command staff in the Mid-West city where she resides. She is a dedicated professional, working long, and often unpaid hours to make sure that those under her command are sensitive and supportive to the needs of both the officers, and the citizens. Her work schedule can be grueling, but Cheri has recognized the importance of being healthy and fit, so is up to the challenge. She is committed to promoting healthy lifestyles for women, including strength training. She received a gold medal in her state’s Olympics in the division for female power-lifting, and can out-lift many men who weigh more than she does. She recognizes that being physically capable means so much to a women’s sense of well being.

She is passionate about trying to make things better for others. She has learned sign language so that she can communicate with the deaf in her community. She runs to promote and support her state’s Special Olympics. She teaches diversion classes on the weekends to help turn around first-time offenders. She volunteers as a Planned Parenthood escort, and serves as a board member of her city’s Family Violence Council. She is the director of the Handicapped Patrol which is made up of predominately handicapped volunteers who work to resolve access issues in the community.

For these things and others, and for going above and beyond the call of duty to help apprehend some violent criminals, Cheri was recently named Employee of the Year by the Mayor of her city. Cheri Marti is one of the ordinary heroes...one of the people who quietly go about the business of making this world a better place for all of us. Her courage, determination, hard work, along with her oft demonstrated fairness, caring, and charity for others are what makes her so special and much loved by all who know her. Women seeking to find the Wild Wolf Woman within themselves would do well to look at Cheri for an example of one who has successfully achieved this goal.

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Some quotes that reflect Cheri’s philosophy of life:

TRUE FREEDOM

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk being called sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.

To place your ideas and your dreams before a crowd is to risk being called naive.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk dispair, and to try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. Chained by things that are certain, he is a slave.

He has forefeited his freedom.

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...our life crises tell us that we need to break free of beliefs that no longer serve our personal development. These points at which we must choose to change or to stagnate are our greatest challenges. Every new crossroads means we enter into a new cycle of change - whether it be adopting a new health regimen or a new spiritual practice. And change inevitably means letting go of familiar people and places and moving on to another stage of life.

~Caroline Myss, PH.D., Anatomy of the Spirit ~