Saturday, November 30, 2019
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
ALL WE HAVE TO BE GRATEFUL FOR - ARE YOU AN INDEPENDENTLY MINDED PERSON?
My friend "Jack" has been with his partner "Johnny" for twenty years. They are a gay couple. Johnny was married and has a child that he's remained a good father to since he was born, while Johnny NEVER had a relationship with a woman. Jack takes care of the house and creates the home, is the parent who drove Johnny's son to school and activities, and except that they are a gay couple, their relationship is more like a traditional marriage with a stay at home wife and mother and out there working father than not. Johnny makes a very good income. It's a mystery to me how they deal with money. Will Jack be protected financially if Johnny, whose the older person, dies? Is Jack on an allowance? Does he take care of his basic bills and allow Johnny to pay for all the wonderful world travel they embark upon?
Sometimes I worry that Jack is not financially protected, but I've never been able to bring up the subject.
But one thing Jack is, is grateful.
He may confide that Johnny works extremely long hours but that he likes it that way; He has never put the man down. I secretly think that Jack would not be able to put in all those hours if it were not for Jack.
He may confide that Johnny works extremely long hours but that he likes it that way; He has never put the man down. I secretly think that Jack would not be able to put in all those hours if it were not for Jack.
I urged Jack to consider starting a part time business - something just for himself, but he responded that he has " a full life" with Johnny.
What makes this a topic for Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot is that I worry about Mistresses who are not financially protected.
Within this blog are Mistresses who were pragmatic Gold-Diggers, others who were left heartbroken, alone, and broke. Although the stereotype of a Courtesan or Kept Person is that they are only interested in riches, I tend to think today's more Independently Minded people are more interested in Relationship and Loving, especially as so many are educated and working as well.
Which are YOU?
Missy
Missy
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019
MISSY LeHAND LEAVES THIS WORLD
Missy LeHand was sent away to try and regain her health, which she never did, and she died weeks shy of her 48th birthday. Her grave says she was "utterly selfless in her devotion to duty" (that is, not her devotion to FDR). There was a Catholic Mass in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to which the White House sent patriotic red and white flowers with blue ribbon to cover her casket. Though dismissed from her job because she could no longer do it, the Roosevelts paid her medical bills to the end.
To her funeral came First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as well as Joseph P. Kennedy, one of her successful Irish-American friends.
On March 28th, 1945 a military cargo ship was named the USS Marguerite LeHand in her honor.
To her funeral came First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as well as Joseph P. Kennedy, one of her successful Irish-American friends.
On March 28th, 1945 a military cargo ship was named the USS Marguerite LeHand in her honor.
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Thursday, November 21, 2019
MISSY AND FRANKLIN and ELEANOR and LEANORA - WERE THEY IN CAHOOTS?
Did Missy expect to go off with Franklin into private life after he finally retired the Presidency?
Page 220 EXCERPT
"What Franklin's character needed Missy LeHand provided, which lead to occasional friction, however politely conducted, between her and Eleanor. The White House staff paid Eleanor the deference due a first lady and found her cheerful and kind. In her whirlwind crusading they also sensed a woman of budding greatness. But as Lillian Parks observed, Missy LeHand was "sunshine and laughter and all the maids loved her."
"In the beginning, she presented a mystery to the staff. But before long they gauged Missy's significance in the President's life. As Parks put it, 'When Missy gave an order we responded as if it had come from the First lady... We really had two mistresses in the White House.' The servants concluded "that Missy was the substitute wife and we honored her for it."
By the standard of the 1930's Missy was reasonably well rewarded for her twenty four hours a day devotion. Her salary, in the midst of the Depression, was $3,100 a year.
In actuality there was a four way domestic living arrangement in the White House as Eleanor had Lorena Hickcock, who was called 'Hicks,' there in the evenings and Missy went in and out of the Presidential suite in nightgown and robe.
***
Reference for this post book Franklin and Lucy from the book by Joseph E. Persico, also quoted from last month.
Missy here. What's implied in reference to Hicks is that Hicks was lesbian. Did we have a lesbian or bisexual First Lady?
Page 220 EXCERPT
"What Franklin's character needed Missy LeHand provided, which lead to occasional friction, however politely conducted, between her and Eleanor. The White House staff paid Eleanor the deference due a first lady and found her cheerful and kind. In her whirlwind crusading they also sensed a woman of budding greatness. But as Lillian Parks observed, Missy LeHand was "sunshine and laughter and all the maids loved her."
"In the beginning, she presented a mystery to the staff. But before long they gauged Missy's significance in the President's life. As Parks put it, 'When Missy gave an order we responded as if it had come from the First lady... We really had two mistresses in the White House.' The servants concluded "that Missy was the substitute wife and we honored her for it."
By the standard of the 1930's Missy was reasonably well rewarded for her twenty four hours a day devotion. Her salary, in the midst of the Depression, was $3,100 a year.
In actuality there was a four way domestic living arrangement in the White House as Eleanor had Lorena Hickcock, who was called 'Hicks,' there in the evenings and Missy went in and out of the Presidential suite in nightgown and robe.
***
Reference for this post book Franklin and Lucy from the book by Joseph E. Persico, also quoted from last month.
Missy here. What's implied in reference to Hicks is that Hicks was lesbian. Did we have a lesbian or bisexual First Lady?
Monday, November 18, 2019
Friday, November 15, 2019
MISSY LeHAND's HEALTH IS RUINED - SHE MAY HAVE TRIED SUICIDE
How serious was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt about Missy LeHand, his personal assistant who is said to have been on call 24/7 for years on end? Known to have a heart condition caused by rheumatic fever, this workaholic woman seemed to not have had a separate personal life due to her total dedication to Franklin, with the exception of Bill Bullit.
In 1941 it all caught up with her and Missy suffered a stroke. After a second serious stroke 17 days later, was no longer able to speak and was paralyzed in her right arm and leg. She had no choice but to step down from her important White House job and the travel it required. Her mental illness issues were considered secondary or caused by her physical ones. She remained in Washington a while and then was sent to Warm Springs to recover.
FDR called in the best specialists and paid all her hospital and nursing bills - eleven doctors - but he was busy with World War II as Hitler had invaded Poland. FDR kept Missy LeHand on the payroll and signed a new will that provided for her medical care, willing one half his income of his estate to his wife Eleanor and the other half to "my friend Marguerite."
He decided to give the building that he and Missy desired to be a Presidential Library at Hyde Park to hold all his papers and memorabilia someday to the National Archives. Giving up on their project together, he called Missy on her 45th birthday in September 13th, 1941. His final in person visit with Missy occurred just weeks later on October 29, 1941.
He had been spending hours in the White House with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd.
When Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, Missy, who seemed to be improving, with setbacks, called FDR. He didn't call her back.
Missy may have become suicidal. This was a woman who was used to being in an important and perhaps powerful position and where the action was. She was now reduced to living incapacitated and retired. She'd lost 25 pounds, at five foot seven, down to 105, wasn't eating, was depressed and crying. She choked on a chicken bone. She started drinking heavily. She set fire to herself with a cigarette.
It was decided it was time to send her home to her family. She was taken off the Federal government payroll. The Roosevelts continued to pay for her medical care.
She and Franklin had some brief communications; calls, letters, gifts came, but the the two never saw each other again. Then the trickle of communications came to that she called and he didn't call back, not even at Christmas. Old beau Bill Bullitt came by to see Missy but FDR had moved on. The woman who had once had a "ringside seat to history" was no longer a player. It took several women - all working at one time - to do the job she had done at the White House!
Are you an Office Wife?
C 2019 Mistress Manifesto All Rights Reserved
In 1941 it all caught up with her and Missy suffered a stroke. After a second serious stroke 17 days later, was no longer able to speak and was paralyzed in her right arm and leg. She had no choice but to step down from her important White House job and the travel it required. Her mental illness issues were considered secondary or caused by her physical ones. She remained in Washington a while and then was sent to Warm Springs to recover.
FDR called in the best specialists and paid all her hospital and nursing bills - eleven doctors - but he was busy with World War II as Hitler had invaded Poland. FDR kept Missy LeHand on the payroll and signed a new will that provided for her medical care, willing one half his income of his estate to his wife Eleanor and the other half to "my friend Marguerite."
He decided to give the building that he and Missy desired to be a Presidential Library at Hyde Park to hold all his papers and memorabilia someday to the National Archives. Giving up on their project together, he called Missy on her 45th birthday in September 13th, 1941. His final in person visit with Missy occurred just weeks later on October 29, 1941.
He had been spending hours in the White House with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd.
When Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, Missy, who seemed to be improving, with setbacks, called FDR. He didn't call her back.
Missy may have become suicidal. This was a woman who was used to being in an important and perhaps powerful position and where the action was. She was now reduced to living incapacitated and retired. She'd lost 25 pounds, at five foot seven, down to 105, wasn't eating, was depressed and crying. She choked on a chicken bone. She started drinking heavily. She set fire to herself with a cigarette.
It was decided it was time to send her home to her family. She was taken off the Federal government payroll. The Roosevelts continued to pay for her medical care.
She and Franklin had some brief communications; calls, letters, gifts came, but the the two never saw each other again. Then the trickle of communications came to that she called and he didn't call back, not even at Christmas. Old beau Bill Bullitt came by to see Missy but FDR had moved on. The woman who had once had a "ringside seat to history" was no longer a player. It took several women - all working at one time - to do the job she had done at the White House!
Are you an Office Wife?
C 2019 Mistress Manifesto All Rights Reserved
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