Inheritance II.

You gotta love my Father-in-Law. I know I do and I have never met the man. Sadly, he died when Halis was 11 years old. However, he was one of the doctors in the delivery room on the day I was born. So, perhaps we did meet and the rest was destiny.

Anyway, I think he and I would have enjoyed one another on so many levels. Especially our appreciation for the female form. Cemal (that is his name) was wildly in love with his wife and yet still had an appreciation for the beauty of all women that did not create jealousy. (This reminds me so much of my own Pepere with whom I loved to watch the Solid Gold Dancers so that we could comment on all the sexy ladies). As some of my readers may remember, Halis and I inherited a beautiful picture of a most gorgeous scantily clad woman that now resides in our stairwell. This was Cemal's and we inherited it after Halis's mother's passing. Now I present to you another of our inherited treasures ...

... the naked-lady-on-a-bear-skin-rug-by-the-fire puzzle! It is called the "Executive Puzzle". (Apparently all executives of the 60's were heterosexual men or lesbians.) And I love it! You should have seen the effort that everyone put into trying to complete THIS puzzle. The great mystery was just how naked she was as the box only gave you a glimpse of what lay ahead. So, my parents, my friends, the kids, myself and Halis all coordinated efforts to complete the picture. It was so much fun. And it turned out that she was (as you can see) very tastefully photographed.

Here is some of the chaos that surrounded the efforts to complete the puzzle...

And I absolutely love that the kids were involved (both mine and my best friend's) for so many reasons. I love that we are raising them to appreciate their bodies and the bodies of others. I love that we are not making sexuality a "dirty" or shameful thing, but rather a beautiful thing that is to be appreciated. I love that they see that we, as their Mommies and Daddies, are happily married couples that are wildly in-love, monogamous, and sensual beings. And that they too can benefit from finding a lifelong partner that they are crazy about while still appreciating the beauty of other human beings all around them.

Ahhh... and that is both my Dr. Ruth and my parenting lesson for the day :)

Love,
Jodi