What Fictional Character Do I Identify with Most??

Cocoa, over at Chocolate on My Cranium, asked this question today.

She thought it was hilarious her children would joke with her about being Ma Kettle.  I can relate to Ma Kettle!  I LOVE the descriptions of Ma Kettle in the original book, The Egg and I, by Betty MacDonald.  Ma is gracious, loving, and kind in a household of absolute chaos.  I can't really say, though, that my life is anything like hers though, because my husband is very kind and helpful, and I'm not plagued by stinky outhouses and escaping bulls, etc.

My all time favorite mom is Nell McLaughlin from the My Friend Flicka trilogy by Mary O'Hara.  I don't think I'm very much like her, but I relate to her exactly.  When we lived in Wyoming we went to the Goose Bar Ranch where Mary O'Hara wrote her stories, and it was exactly as I imagined it.

In one book, Nell is so tired of the cold, and the wind, and the barrenness of a Wyoming winter, she walks down to where the railroad crosses their land and watches as the train flies by on its way to California.  She sees little squares of light flash by with picture vignettes of people inside.  They are laughing and dressed for dinner.  Then she walks back to her ranch house in the dark, cold night.  I've lived in Wyoming and that scene seems so vividly real to me.  I'm sure Mary O'Hara did that in real life many times.

My favorite thing about Nell, though, is her sensitivity to her boys and their needs.  She is tender, caring, and yet allows them to grow up.  I always thought Maureen O'Hara should have played the mom in the movie, with Brian Keith as Rob, the husband.  Sort of a Parent Trap on the Wyoming Ranch.  That would have been a great combination.