My first mil was a beautiful, frustrated woman who had married a man old enough to be her father. There is some question in our minds as to whether she was pregnant with another man's child at the time. I married her oldest son who looked exactly like her lover's family. I am sure she married for security.

She was unhappy and tried her best to make everyone else as miserable as possible. The catty remark was her forte. Her boys never caught on and my sister in law and I seethed silently as she ripped us to shreds.

She had a life long affair with the man who we believe fathered her first child. No one ever said anything to her husband but her sons had a lot of fights over it. They were seen in compromising positions many times by a number of people.

She demanded that her sons come home every week end. I suppose part of the reason is so that she could be nasty to her daughter in laws. I will give her credit for being an excellent cook. I never weighed more than ll5, yet she was on me constantly about my weight.

I got a divorce for this reason as well as other reasons that do not do me credit, but my poor sister in law ended up in a mental institution. After she was released, she
became addicted to alcohol. She died in her fifties Still married and still taking verbal abuse.

She was such a toxic personality. She didn't limit her remarks to family. My mother would come home and tell us things she said to other people. I know that she was insecure and unhappy. She was one of those people that have to be the prettiest, the wealthiest, the best dressed and the most loved by her sons. Still inner emptiness does not excuse her. I had three other mother in laws who treated me like a beloved daughter and I loved them too. I love my daughter in law. It doesn't have to be a bad relationship.