How would you define your relationship with your mother-in-law?

I had a very respectable relationship with my mother-in-law. She was a post-graduate in the 1950's from Delhi University. She knows her limits and always treated her daughters-in-law (4 of us) equal to her daughters.

She used to speak very less, but her word was a command to her children till her passing away. Everybody used to respect her for her grace. She is a role model for me. I want to have a similar relationship when I get my daughter-in-law.