The Whatevers - Margaret's Regrets

This month's Whatevers picture is this image of a woman.  You can find her by checking out the blog posts by Catherine, Nathalie, and Vicki to read their stories and play along with the Whatevers.  I've placed the photo of wistful Margaret into my journal on a multi-layered background that started with modeling paste through a stencil and then had distress inks added, paint stamped, and paper collaged to it from various scraps: postcards from French Kissed Postcards, vintage stamps from a Stampington collage sheet, and strips from French themed sheets from Digital Collage Sheets.

The right side closer up:

...and the left side contains her story:

Margaret always did what was expected of her.  She married at 18, and while raising two sons and a daughter, she somehow managed to keep her household running smoothly.  There were always times though when she found herself wondering how her life could've been different...

Her cousin Evelyn had run off to Paris in order to escape a marriage.  She renamed herself Genviève and rumor had it she posed for famous painters and sculptors.  Such scandalous behavior was never talked about in family conversation, but there were times when Margaret remembered her and considered how if she had had just a bit of her bravery she could have interesting stories of her own to tell. 

So instead of continuing to sit in the chair all prim and proper with her hands neatly clasped in her lap, Margaret thought of Genviève as she looked off into the distance and raised her right hand to her cheek...