My older brother married in his mid 30's to a German woman whose family converted to mormonism and deserted their war-torn country after WWII making a quick dash to Salt Lake City. Mormon officials -- the bretheren -- don't brag much about this period of their history, because they were still concentrating on converting white people (or "white enough" as I often heard them say). My sister-in-law's family were referred to as "bread and butter" mormons, because the church leaders seemed to have the greatest success in post war-torn Europe with the desolate and starving. My brother's wife immediately alienated my mother, pissed off my father, insisted only she knew how to raise children and would not make the same mistakes that my mother and father had made with my brother and me; after all, I was the gay pariah of the family. She also never missed a chance to put down everything regarding 'Mericuhn Kulture. I, myself, have problems with 'Mericuhn Kulture, but I earned the right to fight for my equal rights as a gay man to complain and fight for my political views and for other minorities of equally or more suppressed people in my country. Despite my seemingly constant criticisms, I do love the USA and will only give up my citizenship when some zealous mentally ill administration makes homosexuality illegal and insists upon putting us all in concentration camps. Don't laugh. It could happen. But I digress.
My sister-in-law made not only made my brother's life but the life of my parents' nothing but pure Hell. My brother had been rather striking looking when he married, but after two years he was a fat rather dull guy unable to make his own decisions (or so it seemed). Supposedly, what held their marriage together was their mutual deep testimonies of the "truth of the mormon church." And, of course, my sister-in-law had no trouble lecturing my parents on what bad mormons they were and how they didn't really have testimonies of Christ and the book of mormon. In short, the woman was and still is a fucking bitch. Sorry, but I have confirmation on using that terminology. I heard it once and once only from the lips of my mother before she died. Who knew mom had such a mouth on her? LOL!
Whether in public or privately at home, my sister-in-law never missed an opportunity to put down my brother. After five years of marriage my brother presented her with divorce papers based on unreconciled differences. The day my brother's divorce was final my parents did something quite out of character for a quiet, humble, mormon farm family. They rented a large reception hall at the SLC Marriott and hosted a "Happy Divorce!" party for my somewhat flummoxed brother. More people showed up to that event than had attended his wedding reception. Even more unusual was my mother's willingness to have an open bar. Mormons don't (are recommended not to) drink alcohol.
After 27 years I'm happy to announce that my twin nieces, now married and with their own children, appear not to have inherited any of their mother's remarkable talent for being a big, fat, ugly abrassive asshole of a bitch. Of course, beauty is in th eye of the beholder, but I have a lot of company who have the same perception as I do regarding my ex-sister-in-law.
Not too many years ago on a visit back to the States I asked my brother why he ever married his one and only wife. I thought maybe it was because he wasn't getting any younger and he didn't think anyone else would have him. Mormons look at unwed men and women over 25 as being odd and have special wards (churches) just for single adults to help push their socialization towards the goal of eternal marriage. His answer was, "Well, she seemed to have such a burning testimony of the gospel I assumed she would be a good match." Wrong. He would have done much better with a nice Jewish American Princess from Westchester County, New York, who, instead of just taking over his life and bitching would have taken over his life and continually pushed him to accomplish something -- and possibly a new Mercedes every two years. (I love JAP's including my girlfriend in college who was a modern dance major from Long Island, bipolar as they come and who is still a dear and very close friend -- so back off if you thing for a minute I'm being anti semitic!)
For a long time I thought the whole problem was because my ex-sister-in-law was German. But I've met too many lovely German women to fall for that excuse. Over the years I've seen many similar married couples where the wife behaved exactly like my ex-sister-in-law. The husband's a hunk, but they stay together because of the kids.
Fortunately, I believe in karma. Not much else, but karma seems to always kick me in the ass when I least expect it. With regard to my ex-sister-in-law and women like her . . . I can only hope.
