's motd Thursday March 3, 2011

[Guest guest]

I BROUGHT SOME

E-MAIL WITH ME

Thursday, 03 March 2011

Well, hello there from Auckland,

New Zealand. Now for those of you who didn't know,

New Zealand is below the equator so that means their

seasons are the reverse of ours. (December, January

and February are actually their warmest months.) So

I've been enjoying some lovely weather while I'm

here. I begin taping the Air New Zealand spots later

today and finish them up on Friday. Then I'll be

flying back to Los Angeles on Saturday. And oh yeah,

I'm still talking with that adorable New Zealand

accent I've picked up. LOL.

Now, let's talk about those

E-mails I brought with me. I had a couple of E-mails

in my carry-on bag from two ladies who were basically

having the same problem. See, they both had awful

husbands. No wait, I mean it. These guys may bring

home the paychecks but they sure weren't treating

their wives with respect, not in my opinion. Their

two E-mails reminded me of one of my cruises, several

years ago.

On that Cruise To Lose, a lady stood up with tears in

her eyes as she shared the story of her marriage. She

dropped her guard and was really honest with us.

During the seminar, she told her fellow cruisers how,

back home, everyday her husband made her feel so low.

He'd call her names like cow, you fat pig, or

big-old slob! (Nice, huh?) But wait, it

gets worse. Her children weren't much better. There

was always a putdown coming out of their mouths, words

that rivaled her husband's. "Mom, when are you

going to do something about your weight. You're

getting so big...it's embarrassing!"

By now, everyone attending our seminar on the ship was

in tears. (I'm sure a lot of them were relating

to the story they heard.) She asked her fellow

cruisers what she should do. How was she going to fix

this problem with her family members? Well,

everyone's hands seemed to go up and, one by one, they

offered words of advice. I'm telling you, it was like

a "womanhood revival." Just about everyone had

something to contribute and some of them even shared

how they handled the problem. I'd never seen anything

like it.

But let me tell you, they didn't stop offering her

advice during the seminar. They were talking to her

and giving her more advice...all week long.

And I have to tell you, by the time she got off the

ship, she headed home a different woman than when she

came on board.

Several weeks after the cruise, I

called to see how she was doing and oh, guess who

answered the phone? That's right, it was her

husband! "Well hello," I said to him, "this

is . Is Margaret home?"

He replied, "Yes, she's in the other room, I'll

get her."

But before he did, I asked him how Margaret was

doing. He didn't miss a beat. He told me that

Margaret was certainly a "different woman" when she

came home from the cruise. I asked if he liked the

changes he'd seen in her? He replied, "Well, I

don't know what to think yet but I have to say, she

really has changed. I've never seen her this

self-confident. She was never this way before."

When Margaret and I got to talk, oh, we had such a

good laugh together. She and I both knew why her

husband thought she'd "changed" so much. It was

because of those wonderful talks and words of advice

she'd received from her fellow cruisers. She'd taken

their advice, applied it to her marriage and, of

course her husband thought she was "different." (For

Margaret's sake, I'm betting it was a change for the better!)

If you have a husband who's not

treating you nice because of your weight then you need

to make a change in how things are done around your

house, too. I know, every marriage is different but

still, every marriage should be based on mutual

respect. You don't talk to a person the way

Margaret's husband spoke to her. I'm sorry but it's

simply unacceptable. It's all about respect!

I think guys who verbally mistreat their wives because

of their weight should go on a retreat where they're

taught to treat them better and with more respect.

Oh, that is a great idea. Maybe I'll open a

place like that. And by the way, this is my idea

so don't any of you try and take it. LOL.

I'm serious though. People may have called you names

when you were a kid, just like they did me. But

believe me, now that you're an adult, there's no

reason you should put up with these put downs...any

longer! And especially from members

of your own family!

Love,