Today, the Senator’s mother is celebrating her 83rd birthday! We call her Lala because it’s obvious Granny is not her style. Pictured above is a photo of Lala and the Senator’s dad in Havana, Cuba circa 1955. Lala got around. In fact, Lala still likes to travel whenever she gets the chance. She also likes to shop. Currently, her two local favorites to frequent are Jeromes and the Dollar Tree, but this has been known to fluctuate depending on the merchandise.

Lala calls herself ‘my darling mother-in-law’. This is not only true, but sounds even better when she refers to me as her ‘darling daughter-in-law! Lala has a great sense of humor. We also always joke about the Senator. If he forgets to return her call, then the Senator is ‘my husband’. If the Senator gets a law passed or sends her flowers on her birthday, then he is ‘her son’. We like to trade him back and forth like that and it works for me.

Speaking of flowers, I hope the Senator sent her some. Lala loves fresh flowers. When I was in the hospital giving birth to the Senator’s son, she swiped the gladiolas out of a vase from the restaurant across the street because she thought my hospital room needed a little sprucing up.

She is my darling mother-in-law and I adore her for so many reasons. Here are my top five:

1. She loves to decorate for the holidays, and I’m not just talking Christmas, but Valentines, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter….

2. She has saved all of the Senator’s childhood toys which includes everything from his building blocks and hot wheels to GI Joe’s and toy guns. He had some great toys.

3. She has us over for dinner every Sunday night which is one less meal I have to prepare.

4. She took me to Hong Kong and Bali. I mean, seriously, whose mother-in-law would do that!

5. She cooked me fish for dinner once and I cleaned my plate. This might not sound like a big deal unless you know that the sight and smell of anything fishy makes my skin crawl.

Aside from being the best mother-in-law any girl could dream up, she loves my Senator, and all of us for that matter, unconditionally. Thus she is not for sale or on loan under any circumstances. I know a good thing when I have it!

Happy Birthday LaLa!

Love, your darling daughter-in-law, the Senator’s Wife