We’ve both been fortunate in so many ways throughout our marriage, that it’s actually hard to believe some of the “issues” that some people have faced. A few weeks ago I heard about a phobia that I didn’t even know existed — pentheraphobia. If you don’t know what that is, it’s the fear of your mother-in-law. I’m not making this up. The origin of the term comes from the Greek — Penthera means mother -in-law and phobia means fear.
Phobias usually result from heredity and a combination of external events. Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine how/why someone would develop pebtgeraphobia — I can think of some pretty funny scenarios that might lead to such a condition.
Again, we were both lucky in this area — Claire got along with my mother better than I did, and I think I had a pretty good relationship with her mother. Just another thing we can add to our long list of things to be thankful for…..
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