I honestly couldn't tell you the exact reason why I respect women as much as I do, but the simple fact is, I respect the hell out of them. Maybe it's because I was raised in a house full of them. When my father was away at sea for months at a time performing his nautical duties for the U.S. Navy, it was my mom, my two sisters, and me.

My mom, for lack of a better phrase, kicks ass! Taking care of three, at times quite unruly, kids, certainly couldn't have been easy, but it certainly garnered major respect from me. And I realize that what my mom had to do wasn't anything new, by any means. Millions of women had done it before and millions have done it since. Oft-times without any thanks or kudos.

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March is Women's History Month, Berkshire County! As American historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich famously said, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." In honor of Women's History Month and women in general, the financial website WalletHub put together a report of the Best States for Women in 2022, and guess who got top honors?

That's right. You know the answer. MASSACHUSETTS!!!! The report included the District of Columbia, so out of 51 potential rankings, the Bay State was ranked numero uno, top dog, the best possible state for women.

WalletHub looked at several key areas of living standards and conditions for women across the country and compared all the results state by state to come up with their report and, as always, they found several interesting things.

For instance, Massachusetts came in at #1 overall but was also ranked #1 in Women's Health Care and Safety, #1 in Lowest Female Uninsured Rate, #3 in Economic and Social Well-Being, and #3 in Lowest Female Homicide Rate.

In case you were wondering, rounding out the top 5 Best States for Women in 2022 are Minnesota placing at #2, New York showing at #3, Hawaii coming in at #4, and District of Columbia at #5.

Also, the next highest New England state was Vermont at #6. And New Hampshire was the only New England state to not make the top 20, but they just missed the cut coming in at #21. By the way, the Worst State for Women in 2022? Oklahoma was dead last.

To check out the report in full(and, trust me, there's lots of cool data to look at), visit WalletHub's website here. Thanks, WalletHub, for once again doing all the hard work, and Mom? In case I haven't told you before, a thousand times "Thanks, for your continuous strength, love, and support."

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