When you get married, you marry the family. I love his family. They are all caring and loving people with good hearts. We don't agree on everything but who does? His youngest brother and I adore each other. He claims I'm everything he's ever wanted in a sister and that alone makes me happy to have joined forces with the Woods.
When he married me he moved in with me and my mother. So he has the joy and privilege to live with his mother-in-law. She too has the opposite privilege to live with her son-in-law.
After I divorced my ex-husband she told me she would no longer become involved with any of the men I claimed to be in a relationship with. When I married my ex-husband she fell in love with him too because he treated her like a mother-in-law always hopes to be treated but rarely is. She told him he was like the son she'd never had. He cried because he never felt that his mother loved him as much as mine did.
She tried to maintain a relationship with him after we divorced. In the end though he fell apart. He hurt her. He broke her heart and after that she swore off on any future partner arrangement I might have.
Slowly Charles is cracking through that wall she built. He's taking baby steps. He gives her space and lets her come to him, kind of like a skittish cat. I don't know if he sees it this way but that's what I've observed.
He checked on her one morning before leaving to ride his bike while I was committed to some task by saying, "I'm just checking to make sure you aren't dead." That cracked her up and ever since she's gradually becoming more involved with our day-to-day activities. If we're in the kitchen she'll come and talk to us. If we're a the convenience store he'll buy her a bag of Cheetos, her current guilty pleasure. They're getting a cute little relationship going.
A friend of mine was asking how the marriage was going and we told her it was going swimmingly. Then, "More importantly, how are things with your mother?" We replied with a casual shrug that things were fine. There were no issues. She was visibly shocked that a mother and son-in-law living arrangement could work.
I think the reason it works is Mom and I are both extroverts. We are both outspoken, sassy, opinionated and have very little shame. Charles is an introvert. He's just so laid back and easy to get along with. Everyone who meets him really likes him. He's kind of your "every-man". He has a few close friends and a lot of close acquaintances.
After my ex-husband I realized I needed someone who could support my need to be around people. Charles can incorporate himself into the fold very easily and he's also comfortable sitting back and watching the crowd. It's refreshing to be around someone who is so at ease with himself and his environment. What we have between us is as close to perfect as I'll ever find. I joke that I couldn't have ordered a better man out of a catalog. I'm not really joking though. He's the best man I've ever known and everyday I am happier than I was the day before that I am lucky enough to love him and be loved by him.
