|
Jenny Sanford: Media's oft-sung heroine
2009-08-17
In recent months, Jenny Sanford, the scorned wife of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, has become something of an oft-sung heroine. Her graceful public response to her husband's very public affair compelled the Washington Post to call her a "role model," and Newsweek to deem her a "media genius". Back in June, when Gov. Sanford publicly and tearfully admitted that he had not been traveling along the Appalachian Trail, but in fact, traipsing around Argentina with the mistress he had met eight years ago, Jenny was cool and composed. (When first asked about the governor's absence, Jenny responded: She hadn't heard from her husband in several days. Not even on Father's Day.)
Since then, Jenny (along with her sons), has moved out of the governor's mansion, but the former investment banker turned stay-at-home mother of four has vowed to give her husband another chance. She recently sat down with Vogue Magazine, opening up about being a politician's wife and how she's dealing with her husband's very public infidelity. On understanding her husband's affair: "Over the course of both pastoral and marriage counseling, it became clear to me that he was just obsessed with going to see this woman. I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can't break away from them." "Everybody would like an escape sometimes. I'd like somebody 5,000 miles away I could E-mail. It's not exclusive to men, but I know that isn't realistic." On her husband's mistress, Maria Belén Chapur, whom Sanford calls "pretty": "I also feel sorry for the other woman. I am sure she is a fine person. It can't be fun for her, though I do sometimes question her judgment... But I can't go there too much. All I can do is pray for her because she made some poor choices. Mark made some poor choices. A lot of people were brought down by this, and I am sure that is not what they wanted." On not being impressed when she first met husband Mark Sanford, who gave her a ride in his beat-up Honda: "I didn't think, Wow, this is the man for me, but I thought he was a breath of fresh air. Compared with the typical Wall Street guy, he seemed like an honest, sincere gentleman." On the beginning of her marriage to Mark Sanford: "We weren't madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends... I like to think we balance each other out. I am a conservative at heart, but I'm not passionate about ideas like he is. I am better at making the trains run on time." On the Sanfords' next steps: "All I can do is forgive. Reconciliation is something else, and that is going to be a harder road. I have put my heart and soul into being a good mother and wife. Now I think it's up to my husband to do the soul-searching to see if he wants to stay married. The ball is in his court." The full article can be found at Vogue.com. - Allison Louie-Garcia Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.
| 
