Julia + Suzanne + Mary Jo + Charlene = ?

I used to watch this show called Designing Women. Ever seen it? It's about four women who work together in a Georgia design firm. They're all friends and they all have different personality traits.

There's Julia, lovingly referred to as the Terminator. She doesn't mess around. She speaks what's on her mind, always. She's beautiful, classy, smart, and a little irreverent. She's a widow with a grown son that she adores and currently dating a high-powered attorney. She owns the company and runs it out of her home. She's the brains of the operation.

There's Suzanne, Julia's younger sister. Suzanne is a former beauty queen. She's rich, spoiled, outspoken, and very non-politically correct. She's been married four times, if I remember correctly, and she's taken to dating only wealthy men who have one foot in the grave and no expectations. She is a partner in the design firm because she has money. Basically, she recruits clients from the country club and 'does lunch.'

There's Mary Jo. Mary Jo is a petite, feisty redhead. She's also smart, a little bit naive, conservative but curious, shy, and absolutely adorable. She's a single mother, raising two children. She's divorced. Her ex-husband is a gynecologist whom she put through school and they're divorced because he couldn't stop cheating on her. She's a little bitter, but trying to find love again. She's a designer. She and Julia do a lot of the same work.

There's Charlene (pronounce as a CH not an SH). Formerly of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Charlene is a bit of a hick. Smart, but extremely naive, generous to a fault, tall, very tall. She has this thing where she can talk for hours, easily switching topics without even noticing the change. She has a thirst for knowledge and asks questions about everything. She's gullible and easily taken advantage of, especially by men. She's the office manager, handles appointments, phones, accounting, inventory, etc.

As I was watching it last night, I realized, for the first time, that I am all of these women. I'm sure that that was the point of the show when it was created.When Linda Bloodworth Thomason was writing these characters, I'm sure she wanted each one of them to appeal to the audience. For the female viewers to be able to identify with one or all of them. I know people who are very much like each one of these ladies.

But I am all of them.

Julia is the bitch in me. The smart one who tolerates people's stupidity to a point and then has no choice but to point it out to them. When I'm Julia, I'm all business. Professionalism reigns most of the time. The Julia in me is the one who reads classic novels and handles my work-day. Suzanne is the fat girl in me who used to be beautiful. She's the one who cracks rude jokes and cusses like a sailor. She's the one who gets her way when she wants it. Mary Jo is the part of me that's reaching out, tentatively, trying to find love again, but terrified of being hurt, tired of being disappointed, and wondering if I'd just be better off alone. She's the one who's shy but can be flirty too, the one who doesn't realize how beautiful she is. Charlene is the playful part of me. The one who still likes to have pajama parties with the girls. The one who reads trash and loves TV and computer games. The one who loves scary movies. The part that wants to believe that everyone in the world is good. The part that wants to trust. Julia shuts her up most of the time.

So, I guess as Chaka Khan would say, I'm every woman.