“When we are children, we don’t say to our parents, ‘tell me a fact,’ we say, ‘tell me a story.’” Gloria Steinem believed in the power of stories. In an interview, she said, “our brains are organized on stories and narratives, it’s how we understand the world.”

Storytelling was a foundation of Gloria Steinem’s life. On Sept. 2, she passed away in her New York brownstone at the age of 92. For my mother’s generation as well as my own, Steinem was a powerful voice for women and the women’s movement. She was a trailblazer, an activist and a feminist. She inspired and moved people in a way that had not been done before and her legacy will live on in many ways.

Around the dinner table when I was growing up in Littleton, my mom spoke often about the people who were influencing her life and her career. We heard stories about Steinem, Betty Friedan, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. We knew about Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks and Carlotta LaNier. Among other things, my mom was a civil rights activist. During the 1960s, she helped write the Fair Housing Laws for Colorado and shepherded it through the legislature. As a member of the Littleton Council for Human Relations, she helped bring Martin Luther King Jr. to Littleton to speak at Grace Presbyterian Church in 1964. My parents told us the story about picking MLK up from the Denver airport and driving him to the church. I remember my dad chuckling about MLK’s height. Dad said he was short even though on television MLK’s presence was large and powerful.

Our mom knew Carlotta LaNier, the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine — the first group of Black students to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1964. In later years, both my mom and Carlotta were inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, a nonprofit which recognizes the contributions of women to the State of Colorado. Inductees of the Hall of Fame include leaders like Madeleine Albright, Julie Penrose, Mary Lou Makepeace, Dottie Lamm, Lt. General Susan Helms and many other influential women.

Our dinner table was filled with stories about the Chicano movement in Denver and our family outings often revolved around events in the Black and Hispanic communities along with Jewish community holidays and events. Throw in a civil rights march or two and that was descriptive of my childhood.

For many decades, Gloria Steinem’s home was the center for sharing stories through talking circles gatherings. Talking circles are an ancient practice where people come together to listen and to talk. The Cherokee Nation was known for using talking circles as a way to collectively make decisions and build community. Steinem adopted the idea so that women had a place to share ideas, tell stories and voice ideas. There were female entrepreneurs, journalists, academics and activists. Women of all ages and all backgrounds participated and the discussions lasted hours, often late into the night. Steinem said, “The source of every social justice movement is people sitting in circles saying the unsayable thing and discovering that it’s happened to other people and if you come together, you can change it.”

Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine in 1969 and she was a columnist for New York magazine. She co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus which provided support and training to women running for elected offices. With Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan, Steinem co-founded the Women’s Media Center which aims to make women visible and powerful in the media. In the 1990s she helped start Take Your Daughters to Work Day which created opportunities for girls to learn about a variety of careers and professions. Steinem’s commitment to social justice led her to fight against apartheid in South Africa, advocate for fair wages for women in the workplace, work toward reproductive freedom and healthcare and speak out against sex trafficking. She dedicated her life to political action and opportunities for women. She challenged assumptions in our culture and revolutionized women’s rights.

As my mom would say at the dinner table, Steinem opened doors for women and used her voice for positive societal change. She believed she could change the world and she did. Her loss has affected many women at a deep level, whether or not we call ourselves feminists, which I proudly do.

“The women’s movement has allowed us to support, model, hope and praise other women. The women’s movement freed our heads and our hearts.” Gloria Steinem consistently asked individual women to pose the question, “What can I do? Today, not tomorrow.” Her advice to women now? “Do not listen to me. Listen to yourself.” Lastly, she would encourage us all to keep telling and sharing stories.