Madame, the Formidable

You never know what the future has in store for you. The day I got married was the worst day of my life as well as the best day in my life. It was the best day in my life because of my lovely wife, Joanne. We argued sometimes, okay, okay, okay – so it was more than sometimes, but we never ceased loving each other. Generally, we talked things over and laughed things off and continued our life and love.

The problem, however, was Madame. Madame was the overseer of the lives of Joanne and her little brother Billy, and her little sister Ginny. To say that Joanne’s parents were far from stable would be, hmmm, laughable at best. Joanne’s parents loved to see the world . . . sometimes hiking . . . sometimes driving . . . sometimes sailing . . . and sometimes just letting the world whoosh them various places for no good reason other than to leave home, possibly in an instant.

Once gone, Madame became THE officer in charge. Things were to be done this way or that way, but nowhere in-between. She was like the Chesire cat in Alice in Wonderland or perhaps closer to a female lion. She just appeared and then disappeared . . . and by Jove, those who were not doing things the Madame way risked the Alice in Wonderful punishment of “Off his head!” Of course, no one ever lost their heads, but for little kids it was something to worry about. As the kids grew older and smarter and more used to Madame, the left alone family just hummed along nicely. Enter the dragon, or the lion . . .

I met Joann my second year in college and Joann’s first year. I would say however that Joann probably learned more in her one year than I did in two, but that’s beyond the point. After three dates, in which I never saw the family home, I came knocking. The door opened and I was greeted by Madame. Well, actually, the door opened and I saw an empty living room and then glanced down to meet Madame. For twenty full minutes I was examined, cross examined, and poked three times on my chest (and yes it hurt). After thirty seconds of silence, I spoke. “May I see Joann, please. I believe she is expecting me.” Madame, nodded her head and stepped back two steps to allow me the space to enter into the living room. Joann ran over to me and hugged me while Madame looked away. I could see Madame’s body shake, but I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying.

Soon Joann and I were married and eventually, Madame came to live with us. At numerous times each year Madame visited the other grown-up siblings and enjoyed a life of love and, well actually, there is nothing other better than love.