Our 20 Year Payoff: What did I get myself into?

There comes a time in many of our lives when we have to ask ourselves a very important question. “Do I want to marry this man and take his last name?” Yes, you love him with all of your heart and would do anything for him…and then you meet his family. Like every young person growing up, I thought I had the craziest family, when I met Adam’s family I realized I was wrong. Here’s what I willingly walked into…

Adam’s Mom was an amazing woman. She fell victim to breast cancer a couple of years ago, however I did get to know her a little bit in the short time that Adam and I were together before she passed. I blame her for me saying yes to this whole marriage thing. Sue was the sweetest, funniest, and most down-to-earth person ever. She truly felt like a second mother to me. Sue and I shared a common love for animals, so she thought it was funny when I would bring another furry member into the household, Adam would be livid, but as long as his mom was okay with it, I knew he’d eventually get over it! Sue loved good music, so do I. She was there to talk, and even listened when I would complain about her own son, she sympathized with me! I watched her patiently handle her husband’s antics, and I grew a deep respect for this woman as a wife, mother, and friend. There was a short period of time when Adam and I had called it quits (before marriage obviously), but Sue and I kept in touch via snail mail. When I became pregnant with Benji, she was elated and wanted nothing more than to be a “gramma.” Needless to say, she had me hooked on this family!

Adam’s dad is one of a kind. After the first time meeting him, which I mentioned in a previous post, I was a little leery, however he eased nerves by telling ridiculous stories that are almost too crazy to be fake. One of these stories entailed him being injured and requiring a blood transfusion. The blood that was given to him was Native American blood, and he now tells people he’s an Indian. Still to this day, I’m not sure if this story is made up or true, however the minute details often change. He wore a long braided pony tail forever, actually up until a few months ago, and the only time I’ve seen him dressed in something other than camo and work boots was at our wedding, and even then he wore the work boots. He lives outside. Yes, most of the time he lives outside in a shack that resembles something the Unibomber created, and it’s also covered in a camo tarp. He cooks his meals over a fire…and many of his meals are made of something that he hunted. I’m not sure if this was happening before the blood transfusion, or if it began after he turned into an Indian.

Ryan is Adam’s twin brother. They claim to be identical, however their mom always said they were not. They do look very much alike and oftentimes have been known to walk out on each other’s bar tabs telling the bartender that they are the other one. I realized long ago that I would never be number one in Adam’s life because he had Ryan. It’s not uncommon for them to talk on the phone 4-5 times each day, especially when Jeopardy is on. They’re best friends through and through, and Ryan’s wife warned me long ago that when you marry one of them, you inevitably get both. I should have listened to her!

So, I often question what I got myself into, and then I usually just laugh. I really couldn’t have asked for a more caring, generous, or funny family. Although there are some quirky things, some I have mentioned, and a million that I haven’t, every family is quirky in its own unique way!

Below are pictures of my father-in-law...I made Adam take these pictures specifically so I could write about them!