They say beware the ides of March. They speak the truth.
This is reprinted from my journal a year ago (and was read at the funeral), when, on March 15, 2004, my mother-in-law died after a long, brave battle with cancer. She is still missed and remembered.
"I can probably count on one hand the number of times I referred to Stephanie as my mother-in-law. I mean, technically, thats what she was, but it just didnt sound right; I didnt like the connotation. In popular culture, the mother-in-law is right up there with the step-mother, in terms of purported evilness. Mother-in-laws were supposed to be mean and rude, and accuse you of stealing their sons, not being good enough for their families and critique your house keeping skills.
That was not my experience with my mother-in-law at all (or as I usually referred to her, my husbands mother, or, you know, Stephanie). Stephanie and the rest of the family welcomed me with open arms from the very first holiday I spent with them. I was even assigned a instrument to play (badly) during the traditional Christmas carols. Stephanie was genuinely interested in my life, and shared an important part of her life with me when she taught me how to knit for my birthday this past December. I am very grateful for that opportunity, as I really got into it, and knitting is now my #1 hobby. And she never critiqued my house keeping skills because, well, quite honestly, there isnt a lot there to critique.
It pains me greatly that I was only close to Stephanie for such a short time. I am glad for the time we shared, especially that she was able to share our wedding day with us. And I am sad that she will never know her future grandchildren. But true to her opposition to the mother-in-law stereotype, she never hounded me as to when I would start popping em out.
I hope that she was as happy to know me as I was to know her."
This is reprinted from my journal a year ago (and was read at the funeral), when, on March 15, 2004, my mother-in-law died after a long, brave battle with cancer. She is still missed and remembered.
"I can probably count on one hand the number of times I referred to Stephanie as my mother-in-law. I mean, technically, thats what she was, but it just didnt sound right; I didnt like the connotation. In popular culture, the mother-in-law is right up there with the step-mother, in terms of purported evilness. Mother-in-laws were supposed to be mean and rude, and accuse you of stealing their sons, not being good enough for their families and critique your house keeping skills.
That was not my experience with my mother-in-law at all (or as I usually referred to her, my husbands mother, or, you know, Stephanie). Stephanie and the rest of the family welcomed me with open arms from the very first holiday I spent with them. I was even assigned a instrument to play (badly) during the traditional Christmas carols. Stephanie was genuinely interested in my life, and shared an important part of her life with me when she taught me how to knit for my birthday this past December. I am very grateful for that opportunity, as I really got into it, and knitting is now my #1 hobby. And she never critiqued my house keeping skills because, well, quite honestly, there isnt a lot there to critique.
It pains me greatly that I was only close to Stephanie for such a short time. I am glad for the time we shared, especially that she was able to share our wedding day with us. And I am sad that she will never know her future grandchildren. But true to her opposition to the mother-in-law stereotype, she never hounded me as to when I would start popping em out.
I hope that she was as happy to know me as I was to know her."