Expat Woman : The Southern Drawl

::I'd rather be nekkid.:: 
- Southern Belle Secret #2 

Angel From Montgomery



My friend, Donna, a Dallas girl, and I, play this telephone game where we talk like the Southern women in our lives.  It goes something like this:

"Alberta, is that you? Bert Miller?"

"Why yes, it is.  Is that you Ruth?"

"Bert, how are you doin' Sugar?"

"I'm just fine."

"And your bosom?"

"I have to do a bit of adjustin' Dawlin'."

"What have you got goin' on in that brassier?  A party?"

"Party?  Who's havin' a party without me?  I never heard of such a thing!"

As a child, I listened to the cadence of the Southern Belles in my life.  My MaMere, a tiny French woman, had total command of her life without suffocating the rest of the women.  However, don't you believe for one moment that if anyone of us got uppity, she let you know real quick like that she was the Queen of the Carnival.  My sister will disagree, but for me, MaMere was an angel on Earth.  Donna's Great Aunt Ruth, and my MaMere, ended up raising us when our own mothers' had a bad case of nerves.

Southern Belles have a code.  You persevere no matter how raggedy your life.  Your marriage might be a sham, but at least you have a pedigree last name.  Perhaps your husband embezzled money, but not to worry because he knows people.  Your children might be stealing your bourbon, but at least they aren't smoking dope.  Your membership to the country club is paid through another year.  Your bridge club ladies still come over.      

When our mothers' took to their beds, our surrogate mothers allowed us to wear pearls.  Girls with Pearls.  Just imagine how grown-up and powerful we felt.  A smidgen of rouge, red lip stick, and eyeliner.  Someone may have mistaken us for women.  Just imagine.  

You might be surprised to discover that the gentility of Southern women, and a particular type of Texas woman, can turn out someone you wouldn't want to turn your back on.  I don't mean this in the gang banger sense.  These are women you want to watch.  They had the advantage of a skipped generation of nurturing.  They had great aunts and grandmothers who walked majestically with porcelain handled canes, and hard soled pink slippers intent on killing  roaches!   

You, my fierce beautiful Broads Abroad, absolutely have a bit of the Southern Belle in your soul.  With our precious raucous laughter, our fearless adventurous walk into the unknown, and our straw hats, we are the women being watched by those that will follow in our footsteps.

Create the life you want!
        

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