Pretty Prison

It’s many a girl’s dream to marry a president and become the First Lady, or a royal and become a titled noble. Ahh, to live the charmed life of privilege and access. But, as it goes, be careful what you wish for, for along with the opportunity comes the lack of privacy and the pesky task of avoiding paparazzi, news media and these days, even the average person with an Iphone camera. Your ill-fitting dress, your imperfect hair, your stolen kiss, it could all be splattered on Wonderwall, or Facebook, or front-page headline news, if you’re famous enough

Recently I saw an interview of former First Lady Laura Bush, and currently First Lady Michele Obama discussing what it’s like to live at the White House. Both of them, in their own words and style, equated the experience to living in a “pretty prison”. One might say, “Oh, my! Poor you! I can hear the violins playing”, but there is always some bitter with the sweet, always some good with the bad. And, it’s nothing new.

Take “poor” Martha Washington, back in 1789 -1797, when George was in office. She complained that she would much rather be back in Mount Vernon:

"I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from". In one of her surviving letters, she confides to a relative that "many younger and gaver women would be extremely pleased" to be in her place, but she would "much rather be at home".

 

She endured until it was over, and when George Washington died, she freed his slaves a year later! I guess she could relate! Ha Ha !