“Justice Ginsburg represented the best of the American tradition, the best of a devotion to the American experiment ... She believed in the journey toward a more perfect union.”

Presidential historian Jon Meacham on the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

My cell phone rang at about the same time Facebook delivered the news that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had lost her fight with cancer.

“Mom, she’s dead,” daughter Allie said, choking back tears.

Allie briefly encountered Ginsburg several years ago, during her pre-Covid time at the Kennedy Center, where the justice was a regular. Allie’s reaction to the death of a woman she mostly had only read about mirrors the feelings of many of us — even though we may never have met Ginsburg, there isn’t one among us who doesn’t owe her a huge debt of gratitude. She had a direct influence on all our lives.

A friend posted this Sunday:

“Women, if you have a credit card in your own name and your own credit history, if you have leased an apartment or bought property in your name, if you have consented to your own medical treatment, if you played a sport in school, you can thank Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

She dedicated her life to helping level the playing field for women and others who were considered outside the protection of the “all men are created” part of the Declaration of Independence.

Women my daughter’s age and younger don’t remember when we were considered legally inferior. It hasn’t been that long ago and — truth be told — there is still work to do.

Which brings me to perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from Justice Ginsburg’s life. She never gave up because she knew things could never get better if we stopped trying. Despite the pain so many of us seem to feel now, this country is capable of so much. The unique story of America is about who we are and— even more — it’s about the promise of all we can be.

Justice Ginsburg believed in the fulfillment of that promise. So should we.