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Rita was my great grandmother's name! She lived a long time and I was able to get to know her. She was a very proud lady, with pale white skin and dark hair and eyes. She had a tragic, half-wild childhood but grew up to marry the gentle son of a despotic French petty baron who lost his land. Terribly Romantic. Rita is like the Canadian prairie version of Southern Gothic. Not glamorous exactly, but with a trim, unforgiving elegance. I like it, it's plucky and overdramatic, just like my gramma-gramma. My great-grandpa used to call her "Ritz" as a nickname. Rita is very ritzy.

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I love Rita Francine! Rita Vivienne captures the Rita spirit very well, too.