In the Eye of the Beholder II: Penelope

Rex and I recently watched the movie Penelope. I absolutely loved it. It's message reminded me of another movie I absolutely loved: The Mirror Has Two Faces. The latter movie stars Barbara Streisand, so that may turn a lot of people off. But I honestly don't recall her singing in it. It's the Ugly Duckling story. So many of us, including me, can relate to such stories. I felt ugly my whole life until I found my husband. As a teenager, the people who I'd have thought would make me feel pretty did not. Maybe it was simply the lack of acknowledgment, or maybe it was their critiques towards others' appearances, for they never outright said I was ugly. My logic was: "if you say that so-and-so was overweight or plain, then surely I, who isn't as pretty as she, am even more so." I know it was completely unintentional, but I think all females, especially teenagers, are particularly susceptible to low self-image, and anything negative will seem monumental. And so I am overly conscious that my children know all their lives that they are good-looking and I will do whatever I can to make them feel that way.

I feel like an 8-cow woman; I was ugly until my husband's eye fell on me and showed me how pretty I am. I know he's just flattering me when he insists I turn the heads of other men, but I can't win that arguement with him. And really, it doesn't matter because it's his eyes that count, not anyone else's. I am beautiful to him, and therefore, I am beautiful period. Not a day goes by that doesn't he tells me, at least 5 times a day, how pretty I am. A girl needs to hear that. But more than that is the way he looks at me and the way he treats me. I really don't think even the super models, with the billions of fans drooling over them, could feel half as pretty as I do when I walk into the same room as Rex.

(I hope I don't sound vain. This is more a tribute to Rex than it is tooting my own horn.)