the lives they lived

Can mom stay with you?

This article published in the New York Times is about Irma Zielinksi and her relationship to the painting in which she posed in her wedding dress.

1. The main subject of this article is Irma Zielinksi a mother of three children. She was born in 1931 and her husband Joseph bought this portrait of her for a present.

2. Her children Sandra, Grace and John teased their mom often about the painting, because it was incredible huge and she was really curios about the painting and all the time they had friends over she highlighted it by a lamp. Grace said once that her mom was beautiful all the time even when she was in a dying condition she showed the nurse her portrait and that seemed that she was first really in love with her painting and second very proud of herself.

3. In my opinion she was a beautiful woman and knew what she wants to be and how she planed her life in an excellent way. I think she had a strong personality and could convince people very easily, because even when she was weak and skinny she had all the energy to show her portrait and made it something special. Another fact is that she left detailed wishes about some of her possessions but nothing about her painting. I think she did this in order to show their children the responsibility of their own decisions. But all of them had an excuse to not hang the picture in their houses. The only one who cared about this was Grace and she did a great job. She found a great place in a “well-preserved Queen Anne-style mansion with the fireplaces and the huge ceilings.”  Her mom would be very proud of her and I suggest that she was her little favorite kid.

4. This article was published in the New York Times because the people want to read a real story with a little hilarious touch. So it is the perfect article because it is actually about a sad fact which is death but the text is not filled with deep emotions it is calm, objective and illustrated with a lot of quotes. That is what people love to read. This combination and the fact about the woman who did everything she could to emphasize her portrait and show her proud about herself and that is what it makes hilarious.

5.  If I would write a more in-depth profile about Irma Zielinski I would firstly include all information about her look and her character from the article. Secondly I would interview the people who are standing close to her e.g. her mother, father, husband, children, and friends. I would ask questions like  “ What is your relationship to Irma? How close are you to each other? Did she ever had secrets or told you about this?” Furthermore it is interesting how she emerged and what things in live were the most important things to her.