She had large, almond-shaped eyes, dark, sweeping hair that she often wore up, and a soft, creamy complexion. She reminded people of the
actress Audrey Hepburn, and in our small town, there weren’t many women who fit that description. She loved wearing mascara, eyeliner,
rouge, you name it – and while most people considered her “fun” or “perky”or, later, “eccentric” or “headstrong,” for most of my childhood I
considered her a nag Albom 29.
Audrey Hepburn, as written in Wikipedia and seen from her picture, is a very beautiful lady who was a well-known British actress and humanitarian
around 1950 till 1990. Audrey Hepburn has a long straight black hair, beautiful- dark eyes, pointed nose, white complexion and slim body. If Posey reminds
people about this actress then we can assume that Posey is very beautiful. Chick describes her mother as just likes Audrey Hepburn and many people in that small
village accept that description. There are just little women in that village who are similar to that description. The beauty itself has two different impacts, the first it
becomes a kind of proud for the owner, but it is also a kind of irritating thing for the other women Albom 59.
Another proof derives from Chick’s memory. Chick remembers the time of somebody’s wedding ceremony. On that occasion his parents dance. His
mother is wearing a shiny red dress. She looked happy. She was also a good dancer. Everybody could not move but watch her. The women there seemed to be
jealous of her Albom 58-59. Posey Benetto also has a big sense of humor. It is either she makes the
humor or listens to humors made by others. People think this sense of humor improves her beauty more. Because of her sense of humor, people think that she is
so charming. That charming thing really makes other people want to be close to
her. Here is Chick’s description on her. “She loved jokes. She would push a hand into the shoulder of anyone who made her laugh. She was charming. That’s how
people thought of her: Charming Posey Albom 74.” Sometimes, somebody who is beautiful, handsome or good-looking is still
seen when the one is already getting old. That thing also happens to Posey. Although she grows older in her seventies, Chick still recognizes that his mother
is beautiful. The wrinkles, eyeglasses and even white hair cannot hide her beauty. She placed her hands together and touched her nose, hiding a small smile.
“It is still nice to be thought about, you know.” I studied her face. There was no doubting her beauty even in her late seventies, when she had taken
on a more wrinkled elegance, her eyes behind glasses, her hair – once the blue-back of midnight –now the silver of a cloudy afternoon sky Albom
151.
4.1.3 Secretive
Being secretive is when somebody can hide his problem or other things. As a consequence, other people cannot know what actually happens. In other
word, secretive is an attitude that likes to keep things secret or hide one’s thoughts and feelings in some purposes Hornby 1061. Posey can be considered as
secretive because she likes to hide her feeling especially her sadness in order not to make others feel the same thing or know her feelings. Sometimes, she uses this
ability to avoid the children to know the real condition because she does not want the children feel hurt. There are some evidences that show this description:
“Why can’t daddy take me? I asked. “Daddy’s not here.”
“Where is he?” She didn’t answer.
“When’s he coming back?” She squeezed the corn puffs and they crumbled into floury dust
Albom22.
This conversation happens on Saturday morning when Chick Benetto is still in the fifth grade year. Here, Posey has just got divorce from Len. She tries to
keep the fact from her son. She thinks this is not a good time for him to know that she and his father just split. She wants to keep that first before telling to his son.
She does not want to answer Chick’s question because it will either hurt her or her son. She keeps that anyway.
Another occasion comes when the time Len Benetto wants to come back to the house. Posey lets the children think that the “intruder” is a burglar then she
borrows Chick’s baseball bat to chase the intruder. Posey hides the fact that the intruder actually her ex-husband, Chick’s father. She does not want him to disturb
their life anymore. She also strengthens the children to stay calm and feel secure. My mother’s voice precedes her. “It’s alright, it’s alright,” she is saying,
no longer whispering, and she moves quickly into the room and rubs my head as she passes me to get my sister. She drops the bat and it clunks on
the floor. My sister is crying. “It’s alright. It was nothing,” my mother says.
I slum against the wall. My mother hugs my sister. She exhales longer than I have ever heard anyone exhale before.
“Who was it?” I ask. “Nothing, nobody, she says. But I know she is lying. I know who it was
Albom 93.
Those two proves above tell about the way Posey Benetto keeps her secret. She wants that the fact that she and her ex-husband, Len, are not together anymore
at all ways. She does not want the children feel the shame, grieved, and hurt of
being in incomplete family. Being a divorced family is considered as a shame at
that period. Many women feel irritated if their neighbor becomes a divorced woman. Moreover, it is really a problem if the divorced woman is still young and
beautiful. This divorced woman is considered as a threat for other families’ unity because they think that a divorced woman will tempt their husbands.
On the other hand, Posey does not want to accept Len when he wants to be together again after long time break. She wants to prove that she can stand alone
without husband to take care of the whole family. She wants her ex-husband does not give bad influence to the children. Then, finally she proves that she can take
care of the family although she should work to clean the house after she works in the beauty parlor. This work is also a secret because her children don’t know
about it. My mother capped the moisturizer bottle and picked up a new jar. She
undid the top, and dabbed a small sponge into its contents. “What?” I said. “I don’t get it.”
She held up the sponge like an artist about to put brush to canvas. “We cleaned the house together, Charley,” she said.
Upon seeing the look on my face, she waved her fingers dismissively. “How do you think I put you, kids, through college Albom 121?”
Here, Posey Benetto tells the truth that she works to clean the houses together with Miss Thelma in order to put the children to college. This secret
finally is revealed after long time. Chick does not know this truth until his mother tells it when he meets again with his “dead” mother.
Chick approves that his mother is a very secretive person especially if the conversation is about the reason why she commits to divorce from Len Benetto.
Posey never tells the reason to the children, not even a word. She does not let the children know that their father has another wife and son. If at that time Chick and
