meet the parents

They say opposites attract and in our case, it was true!  To mention Mark having a different upbringing than me is an understatement.  He had one brother and no cousins or aunts and uncles that lived locally.  His mom was an only child and his dad had one sister in Chicago (I think).  Not only that, but Mark lived out in the suburbs/country with very few neighbors and I am sure he didn’t know any of them.  Mark was used to being the center of attention and other than his brother, he was the “only” grandchild.  My family, on the other-hand was lively and big.  I was the middle child of 7 children.  My dad often joked that I was “number 4” because he couldn’t remember my name.  My mom and dad also had a very large family.  My father was one of 11 and my mom was one of 4.  The street we grew up on is still the same one my parents live on today.  It was loaded with kids and games of kickball, kick the can, and hide and seek, skating and basketball.  There was always something to do and someone to do it with.  My mom cooked and sewed and even made matching outfits one year when we sang together at Christmas events for the extended family.  We had a garden and walked to the store.  Every week my dad played pinochle with his siblings while we waited at my grandmother’s house for him to win!  Once a year the family travelled to Pennsylvania to visit Uncle Rocky and Aunt Mary and their 6 children.  It was a hoot.  Mark was amazed at the noise and the confusion and the loudness of my family.  We expected everyone to just walk in the door and be part of the insanity.  Mark took it all in stride and surprisingly blended in immediately.  It wasn’t as easy for me to acclimate to his family.  When the day came to meet Mark’s mother, I was expecting the same sort of environment.  I knew it wouldn’t be loud and crazy, but I visualized June Cleaver in her apron coming over to greet me with a glass of cold lemonade, cookies and a hug.  His parents were separated so I would be meeting them on different days.  I was very excited because we had been dating for a couple months and I knew this was a big step to meet the “mom.” I will tell you about that tomorrow, but let’s just say it was the first time I ever heard a woman swear.  I began to realize that my home life and the love and laughter and smoke-free environment I had was a gift.  His mom and dad loved him just the same as my parents love me, it was just a different way of doing it. And if I was going to be part of this man’s life, I had better learn to see things from an unusual perspective.