The People I Like

Nurse Donna… Inspiration for Richard Prince?

Today is my mother-in-law’s birthday. I’ve been meaning to include her in The People I Like, so what better day than today?

So, yes, this model posing for the cover of a romance novel (I am certain she must have been one of the nurses Richard Prince painted) is my mother in law. I am married to her first born. The bar isn’t held very high, right? She isn’t every man’s dream of a perfect woman, right?

This is the woman who shaped his development, the way he views the world, his understanding of how women behave/look/are in general… and she happens to be one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She also happens to be incredibly mild-mannered… and thrifty. Nevertheless, fancy clothes or none, she always looked, well, like this:

Yes. Even now.

So, my husband was raised by this beauty, who refuses to age, who rarely raised her voice, never spent money, home schooled him while they lived in Africa, impressed upon him the love of God, gave him two brothers, played with them like she was one of the boys, cooked them three square meals a day, ironed their button downs and khakis and did everything else that she possibly could to make them as good as they could possibly be. And it worked. My husband (you can ask anyone who knows him) is a perfect man. I’m still in shock that I found him and that he loves me. And she made that.

Donna, I’m not going to lie, is a hard act to follow. And, trust me, it infuriates me when I fall short. But as high as the bar is, it gives me a place to aim. My hair is already as long as hers. That’s a start ; )

I may never be exactly like her, but I definitely appreciate her and all she did for my husband and her family.

If you haven’t noticed, I am kind of obsessed with her beauty (who wouldn’t be?). I’ve spent my whole life obsessed by beauty, so I guess it’s no surprise I married some (my husband definitely inherited her bone structure and her dazzling smile).

So, yes, everyone, hold onto your hair because what I’m about to say might blow it straight back: My mother-in-law is a person I like.

Happy Birthday, Donna!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 at 16:22 and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.