Learn more about Ranee from her Proust Questionnaire answers below!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A quiet space. The warm sun on my skin. My daughter’s hugs. A hot cup of coffee in the morning. The sound of waves crashing against the shore. A cold beer on a hot day. The kind of laughter you feel in the pit of your stomach before it escapes your lips in a burst of sound that reverberates joyously between your ears.
 
Which living person do you most admire?
I admire anyone who lives by his or her own rules, who doesn’t conform to other’s ideas about how to live, who has had to fight to be appreciated and accepted for who they are. I admire and am grateful to the feminists (both male and female) who have fought for gender equality. I admire anyone who has to fight against intolerance, homophobia, stereotypes, and racism. Anyone who has picked up his or her entire family and moved to a place where they know no one because of a promise for a better life. I admire those who live courageously, adventurously, and those who know what they want out of life and work hard to get it. And I admire anyone who stands up for what they believe in, even if it means standing alone for a while.
 
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Complete confidence. The ability to not compete with other women or worry about what other people might be thinking about them. Total self-acceptance for who they are, how they look, and what they want.
 
What is it that you most dislike?
Dishonesty. I have no patience for it and won’t tolerate it. When my daughter was young I told her one of my living room chairs was an honesty chair. She could tell me anything while sitting in that chair and, as long as it was the truth, she couldn’t get into trouble for it. I remember one or two times when I asked her a question and she paused and said, “Would it be okay if we sat in the honesty chair before I answer that?”
 
What is your motto?
Life is short. Buy the shoes. I mean that both figuratively and literally – because I do love a good pair of shoes! And there is something thrilling about looking at all the boxes of shoes in my closet, like each of them represents a time when I realized I deserved only the best.
 
I spent too much of my younger years trying to be whatever I thought other people wanted me to be. When I finally realized that wasn’t working for me I worried it might be too late to change, but when the alternative is being unhappy for the rest of your life even another year spent doing something you don’t want to be doing is too long. Buying the shoes is so much more rewarding than coveting them in the shop window!