Okay, enough procrastination. It’s been more than two weeks since my last post so I finally summoned the willpower to get some writing done. The last two weeks had been great – husband’s mom flew in for a conference and extended her itinerary for a couple of days to spend time with us, ventured into downtown DC on my own and I had my first taste of Thanksgiving, turkey and all. Whew.
I count myself as lucky. As they say, marrying someone means marrying into that someone’s family. There are the amazing tales that surround the coming together of two different clans (peculiarities included), and then there are the “horror” stories. I’ve only met one-half of my in-laws but I believe she represents what the family is all about. I always tell the husband that I’m a sucker for good conversations and those two days were filled with wonderful exchanges with the mother-in-law. She’s simply an amazing person.
As an aside, is it just me or is it common among new additions to the family to get stuck on how to address the in-laws? I remember my sister saying it took her sometime to get used to calling her mother-in-law “Ma.” When it was time for dinner, for example, she would let her words trail off to not sound disrespectful, like, “Mangaon na ta…” (Let’s eat.) Or start the invitation with, “Umm…” Husband here assures me it’s all right to call his mom by her first name. In my culture that would raise some eyebrows and I would be then labeled as the impertinent daughter-in-law. “Mom” sounds better. Just needs some getting used to, something which I don’t mind at all.
My mother used to say I was born to talk, pointing to the moles just above my upper and lower lips as Exhibits A and B. However, I do think it’s a blessing when we get to meet people who we can really talk or open up to or laugh with, the kind who, after even just a short conversation, make you go, “That was really good.” Meeting wonderful people is an even beautiful thing so this post is my way of saying “thank you” to her.
Posted by fleur at November 28, 2006 01:52 AM