My name is Natalie Bonnie Parker. It's a family name, and my parents are big on traditions and appearances and status symbols. I grew up in the South. Corpus Christi, Texas is my home town. I live in New York City at present, but I do miss my home on the shores of the Corpus Christi Bay.
When you tell New Yorkers you are from Texas, they all think you wear cowboy hats and boots. And it's true, there are more of them in Texas than there are in Manhattan, but not everyone is a rancher or an oilman. We don't all square dance, ride broncos in rodeos and chew tobacco. It wouldn't be ladylike to chew. My mama would have a heart attack. I grew up learning how to be a southern lady, so I could catch myself a rich husband.
My life is a cliche of epic proportions.
A sad story, really. The Southern beauty queen meets the guy with the right pedigree, but wait it gets better. They marry, set up house and have a baby. Me. I'm okay in the looks department, not head-turning but not a Quasimodo, either. Instead of telling you what I'm not, I'll tell you what makes me who I am. I'm a bit klutzy, I speak before I think, and I have several addictions.
Designer duds, carbs, chocolate, and men. I don't have any particular preference, when one isn't available, another will do. So needless to say, my parents (formerly known as the Beauty Queen and the Right Guy) try not to show their disappointment. They're good parents, but I'm not stupid. With their DNA, you'd think I'd look like a model in a Ralph Lauren ad. Yes, I have one more flaw to add to the rest, I babble incessantly. It's one of my better qualities.
Mama used to dress me as a 'Mini Me' whenever we went to any event like church socials, barbeques and garden parties. I always hated it. Even at an early age, I knew my psyche was being warped into some looney tunes version of Scarlett O'Hara. I mean how much taffeta and pearls can a girl wear? The first time Mama saw me in Daisy Dukes, she about had a coronary right on the spot. I think they even brought in the paramedics for her.
When my mama learned she had birthed a baby girl, she envisioned what the future would be with her little girl by her side. My daddy just kept hoping a little boy would soon follow. I disappointed both of them—not girly enough for Mama and not butch enough for Daddy. So I forged ahead and used that song Sinatra sang as my motto for life, and I know y'all are thinking its "My Way". Nope, wrong Sinatra. Miss Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking" is the anthem of my life thus far.
Oh yeah, I'm not my mama's little girl.
BINABASA MO ANG
Not Mama's Little Girl, Anymore
ChickLitNatalie Parker is a bit of a klutz. She loves designer clothes, carbs, booze, men--not necessarily in that particular order. Her romantic life is bleak, and the job outlook isn't much better. Then, why is she always so happy?
