Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Oh the Insanity!!! and Mominlaw

OK, so yesterday was a bad rant on the co-worker. I take it all back. It's just me, not him.

So I was late for work this morning. Luckliy so was the boss. When I got in, he was standing at someone's cube shooting the breeze, holding his briefcase. Yesterday I beat him into the ofc by a full hour. I am such a slacker. I couldn't leave this house this morning until I heard a full report of all the body aches and pains that my mother-in-law was having.

Mominlaw is living with us now. It'll be a week this week. I feel sorry for her, her husband of 40 something years died on 11/6. She is completely lost without him. At the age of 73, she has NEVER been in charge of her own life. She went straight from her father's house into marriage. Sp she has spent her entire life waiting hand and foot on others.

A little bit about Mominlaw. She is Arabic. (I'm Southern, hubbie's from NewYork. It's an interesting house we have.) She was born in Jordan, rasied in Lebanon. She is one of 11 children, only 3 of them girls. Now, in the middle eastern culture, women are "More priceless than Rubies" but they also spend their entire catering to the men in their family. (Scrubbing, cooking, cleaning, having babies, etc..) Mominlaw's own mother died when she was 18 yrs old. Mominlaw was the 4th of all the children (I believe), and her youngest brother was only 7 yrs old. So Mominlaw immediately became the "Lady of the house". This was in the 1950's.

Shortly after the death of the Mother, Mominlaw and the family moved to New York City. All the oldfer brother's set about finding fabulous jobs and beautiful wives, while Mominlaw quietly raised the younger children, scrubbed the floors, cooks the meals, and did the laundry.

Mominlaws big act of rebellion was going out to get a job at the Loew's Movie Theatre when she was 26 years old. Mominlaw worked in the theatre as a cashier/ticket-taker.

She told me that after working their for some time, that she met a handsome English man in a coffee shop once day when she was on her break from Loew's. Well, this handsome young man found out where she worked, and followed her back to the theatre. 3 Months later he became her husband.

At this time, she was close to 30, all the younger kids were raised, and the most of the brother's had by then found wives. So at that time, they had no more use for Mominlaw's services by then. This all occurred after the brothers had turned down 3 marriage proposals that were offered up to Mominlaw. (Evidently back during this time, Arabic men saw the woman, determined that they liked her, then made an offer of marriage to the men in the house. Oh the romance of it all!) The brothers had turned down previous suitors for the following reasons, "Too tall, not rich enough, and I can't even recall the other lame reason."

Anyway, I am telling you the Mominlaw story to let you know how respressed and lost this poor woman is. She speaks Arabic, English, French, Italian and Hebrew fluently. She is 73 yrs old, and still sharp as a tack. She is brilliant!! She has spent her entire lift waiting on others, and now at the age of 73, she finally can focus on herself. I'd love to see her just fly the coop!! Have a little fun, travel, blow her inheritance....but so far nothing.

Time will tell, I suppose. I hope, I hope for her.

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