The last couple of days have been a bit chaotic for me. I’ve been helping take care of Steve’s parents while he’s been out of state. And while I’ve been doing that, I’ve also been helping in a second grade class, taking classes at the university and taking care of the zoo here at the house. But you know what, I really really feel like taking care of my in-laws is not a burden or a chore. They’ve taught me so much about unconditional love. It’s interesting that I’ve learned so much from them, because when I first met my mom-in-law, she didn’t want me in the family. She essentially rejected me.
Here’s the story … Steve and I met through E-harmony and we could probably do one of those commercials. We were connected on September 23 and emailed and talked on the phone for over a month before we met. We met the first Thursday in November, became engaged seven weeks later and were married 2-1/2 months after that … talk about your whirlwind courtship! But in the middle of all of that, we met each other’s family. I told my parents about Steve right after our first date, however … Steve waited until right before I met his parents, so his mom didn’t know anything about me and hadn’t really had any kind of warning. Steve called his parents on the way to their house to tell them that he wanted them to meet me. When we got there … well things weren’t good! I have a problem, when I get nervous I tend to chatter. We went into the house and suddenly I was confronted with people all taller than me. I’m only 5′4″, Steve’s 6′4″ and his mom is 5″10″ and his dad is 6′3″– even the dog on his hind legs is taller than I am. So there I am smaller than everyone else — Shirley (my mom-in-law) was glaring at me. Needless to say - I got majorly intimidated and started to chatter (uncontrollably). Not good.
Steve and I finally figured out why she was against me - she was remembering an old saying, “a father has a daughter for life, a mother has a son until he takes a wife.” She was afraid that I would take him away. The good news is that she knows that’s not true now.
So back to the last couple of days … my pop-in-law has a disease and he has to take prednisone - a really nasty drug that has awful side effects. One of them is that his hips are degrading badly and the right femur head is cracked, so he’s in a ton of pain. On Tuesday, I had to calm Steve down - Pop’s pain had become unbearable - and Steve was in New Hampshire and unable to do anything to help. I called Shirley (mom) and offered to drive them to the hospital if they needed. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do that - Pop was able to take a different pain med and it worked. On Wednesday, I drove Pop to the clinic for an appointment and after the appointment, mom pulled me aside and said, “it was a blessing the day that Steve found you.” Then she gave me a hug and a kiss and said, “I love you.”
I’ve been married 1-1/2 years now and my relationship with my in-laws is absolutely wonderful. I never thought I’d have that kind of relationship with the rocky beginning. But my life is so much better for knowing these wonderful people.
