My beautiful daughter blessed us with my wonderful son-in-law sixteen years ago. Joining our family was quite a culture shock for Mike because our lifestyle was considerably different than what he was accustomed to. Being a bachelor until thirty-seven tends to set a guy in his ways, especially someone like Mike who, while being a lot of fun, is a very hard-working, structured person. He likes things organized and, neat and tidy. Our family, on the other hand is also very fun, but you might say we are a bit more spontaneous. While we love neat and tidy, we may define it a little more loosely.
So imagine his surprise when my daughter’s family or friends called to announce that they were coming to visit for a few days. I can definitely understand how someone who didn’t grow up in a home where you may wake up to ten of your daughter’s friends asleep on the floor might be puzzled. Or, how you just step over the sleeping bodies and start making mounds of pancakes. But we did call first to say we were on our way.
Over time we all adjusted and learned to be a bit more respectful of his feelings, which was fair. We loved him and more importantly my daughter loved him, and we wanted him to stick around. In turn, Mike tried very hard to adjust little by little to our unintentional blunderings. During that time, we talked about the way things would be when they had children. One of the things my husband and I learned when we had day care centers was that parents who have their children when they are a little older, tend to be a little more protective and disciplined as parents, at least in the beginning. I knew Mike would be a wonderful father because he is a very caring and loving husband, but when he said to me, “When I have kids, they will get out one toy at a time and put it back before getting out another one,” I had to chuckle a bit and say uuuuh huh.
They now have two beautiful daughters, are wonderful parents and….well, this poem I wrote for my much loved and appreciated son-in-law tells the rest. I wouldn’t trade him for the world and his girls worship the ground he walks on. Their Rock.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO MIKE AND ALL OF THE WONDERFUL DAD’S OUT THERE. YOU ARE LOVED. ENJOY!
