And how many pills did she have to pop to get through her day? How many visits to the "rest home" to recover from a nervous breakdown? What did she hide the alcohol in?

My grandmothers and great grandmothers were luckier than most. They still lived and worked small farms which meant they were still an integral part of the family income. They were producing and providing for the family.

They didn't wear dresses all day every day, they wore overalls and dungarees. They sure as hell never had pearls. They all lived to extreme old age, except one who got cancer, and were still as limber as a dishrag the day they died as they were the day they were born. One of my greats chewed tobacco and smoked a pipe.

They all pretty much agreed that women trapped in the suburbs went crazy eventually.

They were more right than not. That's what happens when you're isolated and your needs are met. You lose it to varying degrees.

It's not something that pearls can fix.