Comedienne helps women laugh
There was a lot of laughter at the Purdue North Central Women's Association spring luncheon at PNC on Saturday. East coast comedienne Mary Ellen Rinaldi entertained the audience of nearly 100 with her musings about marriage, parenting, shopping and aging.
"I recently celebrated a 40th birthday," said Rinaldi, with a pronounced Boston accent.... "It was 10 years ago!" "What happened?" Rinaldi asked. "I woke up yesterday and I was 21," she said.
Liz Depew, vice president of the women's association, said the group invited Rinaldi to speak at the event for an afternoon of relaxation and laughter. "Women are always doing things for other people, and sometimes they don't take care of themselves," Depew said. "We wanted to get girls of all ages out of the house to hang out with other women and just relax and have fun."
Rinaldi had some audience members doubled over with laughter, as her stand-up routine hit home -- especially when talking about weight gain and exercise.
"My idea of a workout is to get in the tub, fill it up, pull the plug and fight the current," said Rinaldi. "I like to eat -- and I don't like to move." "I finally found something I like -- yoga," she continued. "You go in -- and you lay down!"
Rinaldi's remarks really struck a chord when she talked about women trying on swimsuits. "You say, 'please let this one fit, because the next size up has a skirt on it,'" Rinaldi said. "If someone had told me my last bikini summer would be my last bikini summer, I would have taken more pictures," she said.
Rinaldi, who first married at 43, said she instantly became the mother of an 8-year-old son, who is now 18. "I love being a mother because I've only done it for 10 years now, and I'm still enthusiastic about it," Rinaldi said. She said she learned a lot about parenting from her father, who "studied his kids." "It's so easy to find out what your kids have done wrong because all you have to do is pretend to know what they did," she said.
By Susan O'Leary Times Correspondent | Sunday, April 19, 2009 | WESTVILLE
