How many times have you said “I have intimacy issues,” heard someone say he or she has a fear of intimacy or that they know a person who’s afraid of getting too close?

I know of one person who never said that: Pa Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.

Behold the clipped-on ribbon trim in my hair. It’s my Laura Ingalls braids.

I was a big fan of the TV show. I used to pretend I was Laura Ingalls and clipped brown ribbon onto my short hair except during the season when eldest daughter Mary went blind. Then I pretended I was her so I could act out the dramatic scene when she actually loses her sight.

The show centered around the Ingalls family living in rural Minnesota during the 1870s. I loved how emotional and close the family members were. Pa was always laughing or crying. And despite Mary yelling at Ma once and essentially calling her a whore, they always talked it out, embraced, and life went on. Nobody was paranoid about appearing vulnerable and Laura didn’t talk trash to one sister about another sister.
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