Among Friends

[Keeper of the koi]

Most of the time you hear in-laws mentioned its usually not good! Well this is not that. I am so very blessed to have a mother and father in law that are truly God given. After23 years  of unwaivering love I am looking back with a heartful of gratitude. I didn't have loving parents, I was surprised  to  be graced with these two. We live   a short walk through our woods  close. It's not unusual to hear  my father in law call me daughter, or my mother in law to say  are you sure I didn't give birth to you? I'm often delighted to hear  strangers up on meeting me say  your in-laws  really love you ,that praise you constantly. I do believe they provided the ground work for our strong happy marriage , always supportive wishing us the best. I hope they realize how much they changed my life.    Maryanne

[Q4u]

How absolutely wonderful, truly!  I loved my in-laws too and still miss them terribly.  I was lucky enough to have two wonderful parents as well and miss them terribly too.  When I think back, I feel so lucky to have had all "my parents" in our lives, especially our children!   Thank you for sharing.... 

[GCR18]

You won the in law lotto.  It's a nice story.

[spent2much]

And I am truly blessed to have the greatest daughter-in-law on the planet!  Thank you, Lord.

[vermint]

I, too, was blessed with wonderful in-laws...I miss them every day. They always treated me as one of their own. Even if I didn't like what they had to say, I knew they would also say it to their own children! I was fortunate to have them in my life for nearly 40 years. Even my own mother said I had good in-laws!

[Mominohio]

What a wonderful tribute to your in laws.

I have been married twice (still with the second after 20+ years) and both my father, and both husband's fathers had all passed away when we were still children, so I never have had a father-in-law.

But, both of my mother-in-laws were wonderful people, and I simply can't share the 'moster-in-law' stories and experiences that so many do have. I didn't have either one long, but got along well with both, and miss them both very much. 

I assume that I will be a mother-in-law in the foreseeable future, and am already thinking about how to be a good one. 

[chrystaltree]

I hope you told them how much they changed your life and how much they mean to you.  I have to disagree with the idea that most inlaw situations are difficult or strained.  I don't find that to be the case at all.  Although it is in my case. I think relationships with inlaws start out rock, sometimes, because it's new and the people involved need time to get to know each other and adjust.  My situation was the opposite, we were close for the first 10 years but 20 years ago, there was a rift and my mil and sil resisted all attempts to close that rift.  Until quite recently when my mil extended an olive branch.  Now, I am a mil and I try to use my own mother as a role model.  My parents instinctively knew how to build a good relationship with the people their children married. 

[2blonde]

@Keeper of the koi  That's wonderful!  Maybe that was God's way of making up for what you missed with your own parents.  I've been divorced for many, many years, but when I married young, I did marry into a very close and loving family.  I remained friendly with them after the divorce.  I also had a tumultuous childhood, so that was a blessing for me as well.

P.S.  Welcome to the bulletin boards!

[151949]

I have never really had inlaws - my first marriage my MIL had been killed in WW11 in London by a rocket. My FIL lived in London and we lived in the USA, and he was not close with my husband. My second marriage both his parents had passed before we were married. He was very close with my parents though. 

[adoreqvc]

Hi Maryanne,

I would like to wish you and yours, blessed, joyous, and safe upcoming holidays 2015 & 2016.

I see we have even more in common, relative to your post.

In both my marriages I too was/and still am so very blessed with fantastic loving kind hearted inlaws.

Those who also are, indeed are very fortunate, because we cannot pick and choose, only pray for the best type of respectful caring and kind communications, with the parents of the spouse we love.

Also need to remember no matter what occurs, these 2 people brought forth your spouse, so there needs to be rememberance and respect regarding that fact, in all considerations.