Meet the Mrs.

The two women atop this page are married. Between them, they've cooked more than 8000 meals, changed more than 3000 diapers and washed several tons of clothes. And aren't they lovely? Look at their eyes. See the shyness. And the experience. In many ways, they are the best of American womanhood. The Mrs. America Pageant annually celebrates the beauty of women such as these, and both Marilyn Griffin (above left) and Marilyn Parver (above right) were sent to the finals in Las Vegas by (text continued on page 96) their respective home states. So meet Mrs. Oklahoma 1980 and Mrs. Georgia 1981. And have a little respect. These are mothers. And working mothers at that. Marilyn Griffin, 36, is the current director of the Mrs. Oklahoma Pageant and is a model. You've probably seen two national television commercials she appeared in during the past year--for American Airlines (she's the lady who steps out of a cab and greets the sky cap) and Coca-Cola (she gives the rodeo winner his trophy and a smile). Marilyn Parver, 30, is a make-up artist who, besides owning and operating (with a partner) Indulgence, a popular Atlanta beauty salon, has also been a make-up consultant for Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures and television's Emmy-award show. The list of celebrities whose faces her hands have known intimately is too long to print here, but it includes Jack Lemmon, John Wayne, Sidney Poitier, David Cassidy, Gary Coleman, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Paul Newman, Warren Beatty, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Dudley Moore and Muhammad Ali. Oh, yes--and Rosalynn Carter, who drives all the way from Plains to indulge herself at Indulgence. Mrs. Parver is well traveled, bilingual (she lived in South America for most of her childhood) and shares with Marilyn Griffin an apparently boundless enthusiasm for each of her roles as wife, mother and businesswoman--and, of course, the official state Mrs. "It's fun to go around Georgia in my miniskirt and high heels," she says, "and have people say, incredulously, 'You're Mrs. Georgia?'--to which I reply, 'Yep. And I'm a great cook and I scrub a mean bathroom, too.' "

As representatives of our most cherished and maligned institution, both Marilyns are ideal--first of all, because they're deeply enamored of their husbands and, second, because they make being a mother sound more fun than headache. "I promised my husband I would give him a child before he was 40," says Marilyn Parver, whose spouse is 15 and a half years older than she, "and I did. It was so much fun, I decided to do it again. I was the proudest pregnant woman in the world."

And Marilyn Griffin sounds like one of those wonderful mothers you may think live only in television sitcoms when she says, "I enjoy going to every baseball, football or soccer game my boys play in. They're wonderful athletes, like their father."

Both women express (concluded on page 210) Meet The Mrs. (continued from page 98) unabashed love for their husbands. Says Mrs. Griffin of hers, who owns a 68-lane bowling center in Tulsa, "Bobby Dale Griffin has the best-looking legs I've ever seen on a man. He was a semipro baseball player when I met him, and the first time I saw him out on the field in those tight baseball pants, I said to myself, 'I've got to have those legs.' Honest." She giggles as she says this, and we reflect upon the fact that after 17 years of marriage, Bobby Dale is a lucky man.

Mrs. Parver, who candidly admits, "I was a virgin" when she married husband Michael (the first marriage for both) seven years ago, says, "Michael is simply the sweetest, most wonderfully supportive man I could imagine. Without him and the children, I don't think I would be enjoying my career half as much. They come first, the career comes second. The nice thing is that I've got both."

Both Marilyns have a marvelous sense of humor, which can be best illustrated by two anecdotes:

Marilyn Griffin: "Wayne Newton sent me roses when I was in Las Vegas, and when he brought his show to Tulsa, he invited me and my mother to the show. He's really been a friend. Is my husband jealous? I don't think so. It's just a friendship, nothing else. But I do wish sometimes that I could arrange for Raquel Welch to have tea with my husband a few times to even it all out. He deserves it."

And Marilyn Parver: "When my husband had his vasectomy, I hired a chauffeured limousine to take him to the doctor's and bring him home. When he returned, I greeted him with the 25th Anniversary issue of Playboy and a lobster dinner in bed. I figure when a man has undergone that kind of operation and is temporarily out of commission, he ought to have the best of everything."

It sounds as if he does, Marilyn.

Mrs. Oklahoma

Mrs. Georgia

Mrs. Oklahoma

Mrs. Georgia