Mother in Law Musings

I spent the day today with my Mother in Law, my two daughters and the baby.  It was a lovely way to spend the day.

Several times today, I thought back to the times right after we were married.  Times when my in-laws and I circled and danced around each other trying to figure out the rules in this newly formed extended family.  It wasn’t that we didn’t like each other, I was just an unlikely addition to the family circle.

They are calm, quiet people.  They like to go with the flow and live life calm, comfortable and easy.  I am loud and energetic.  I like to run up the down escalator of life and sing in the rain.  Neither of us are what the other pictured when we daydreamed about what our future family would look like.

But there was the Computer Guy.  We all love him.  A little bit madly.

There was a day, too long after that June wedding when I stopped struggling against the confines of my new family and decided to just be me in the middle of them all. 

Imagine my surprise when they were delighted with the addition.  They weren’t sure they cared for the person I pretended to be in order to fit in, but when I gave up all pretenses and just was myself…then my place in the group became a natural fit.  We are nothing alike in temperament, but we are the balance in my husband’s life.  I bring the excitement, and they bring the calm.  It blends together to make joy.

His life would not be complete without either side.  It took us all a while to recognize that fact.  Once we did, we realized that our lives wouldn’t be complete without each other either.