My In-laws

I was blessed to have great in-laws. My wife’s mom, Gwen, was loving and compassionate, and she was always thinking of others especially family, friends and people in general. Even after being diagnosed with lymphoma, she still was very active in her church and with her family. I still remember the blue jacket she gave me that I wore everywhere until it was in tatters. It is one of my deepest disappointments that she passed on before I really got to know her better. She died after six long years of cancer. Periodically, the cancer would go into remission but it was always returned until she could fight it off no longer.

Donna’s dad, George, lived for many years longer, and he became both mother and father to his seven adult children. Just like my family there were seven children, four boys and three girls.

George also had a great sense of humor. He would often tell stories or jokes about situations that would come up in life. For example, during strawberry season when customers would pick berries, he would mention that some customers from the back looked like two cubs bears in a gunny sack. That was George’s sense of humor for sure.

As I was looking for a more humorous newsletter to send out, I thought of George and an incident that I included in my book The Comedy in Every Day Life, and I thought I might share it:

George and the Wobbly Garage

My father-in-law lived a very full life. Hard working and highly intelligent, George proved to be a great salesman, astute stockbroker and a forward-thinking farmer. He even owned a highly successful business and served as a local politician. But most of all, he believed in helping others. In fact, he remained frugal when it came to his own needs, yet he acted generously toward others. After his wife, Gwen died at an early age; George lived alone and watched over his seven children.

However, on rare occasions, George could make plans that were problematic. For example, once he bought a dilapidated garage from a neighbor that needed to be driven to George’s farm. He waited patiently for the appropriate permit to arrive, so he could transport the garage. However, it never arrived in the mail.

In frustration, George fashioned his own uninspiring permit and attached it to the side of the old garage. Then his sons helped him to secure the rickety structure on to the bed of his full-sized pick-up truck. Since the travel distance was only a few miles, George was able to drive slowly and carefully on side roads. But even then, the unpredictable breeze nearly rocked the ancient garage off the truck, so George needed to further reduce his speed. Although this maneuver helped for a while, when the truck began heading downhill, the overhanging door of the garage dropped down and fell on the windshield with a thud!

George and his sons succeeded in readjusting their load on the shoulder of the street, but initially they worried about a confrontation with a police officer. The police never discovered their situation and they made it home to the farm safely.

For most folks, the wobbly garage incident might cause embarrassment. Perhaps, the details might also be skewed to in order to justify the situation. George, however, soon developed an anecdote about the event, and his listeners enjoyed the story of the garage fiasco. George’s genuinely self-effacing attitude is probably very rare for someone who has been so successful in life. It added depth to his character and provided a good example for the rest of us who knew him.

Hope you enjoyed my story. See you next week!

(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)

Quotes from the Quotesanity Team

“In-laws are not relatives by blood, but they are family at heart.”

“The journey of building a strong and loving family in-laws starts with respect, patience and empathy.”

“In-laws: the family we gain when we marry, and the friends we gain for life.”

Photo credits: personal photo; zhanjiang-chen-c-R7D5VRwek-unsplash

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