As we celebrate our tenth year of marriage, and our dog turns nine, I wanted to share a few things that are very important to me about the family I married into.
Cooking and spending time with my mother-in-law is important. We’ve developed a rhythm that works to get things done. We have spent so much time together when the guys are out with the cattle that I don’t really have quotes. I just know that she spent so much time and effort “vetting” me for her eldest son that when he spends four months gathering woodworking tools for our nephew, age 10 now, and I tell her it’s driving me crazy, all she says is “I warned you.”
My father-in-law has done a few special things over these ten years. He: showed up at the airport to meet us with two dozen roses (not his idea, I’m sure); told my husband 12 hours in that if he wanted to ask me to marry him, it’s OK; drove a truck up that weekend and told me to get in, early in the morning in my pj’s, to see a 14 point buck and didn’t want to shoot him only let me see the grandeur; and this past year at Nanny’s he said he said he had to try this one dish because he knew who made it.
Then there’s Nanny. She interviewed me privately in her dining room for nearly an hour. My grandmothers died before I was a year old. Seeing as we got along so well, I asked her to be my Nanny, too. She agreed and for ten years we’ve had family events and I’ve held cooking classes for The Grands (her great-grandkids) and it has been a joy to know this loving and wonderful person.
Of course there’s an uncle who is very special to my heart. He brings qualities into our shared relationships that are so open and honest they make us question what we are doing with our lives and correct our mis-steps.
Permit me to let you know about my brother and his family in another post.
Learning, living, compromise, I don’t know that young couples expect that. That’s what marriage is all about, loving someone so much that work, kids, dogs, living conditions can be dealt with. Speaking of dogs I must add Val to my joining family list. She took out our dog’s hips as a pup and Zoe still loves her. She, P, Z and her parents are terrific, loving family members.
I wouldn’t have known any of these folks had I not met my husband over 11 years ago. Thank you for being in our lives. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 