A few weeks ago, S met my first family members -- my uncle J and aunt G, who had come into town and invited me out to dinner (several months ago!). We had a fabulous time, S LOVED them and they apparently really liked them too b/c they called my Mom right away to tell her how great he was! But that was only the warm-up, because tonight he is going to meet my Mom. He told me last night that he wasn't nervous about it, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. Should he be? (One of my friends said that he's nervous FOR S, which I think is super cute.) But then he is coming home to Birmingham with me in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving and is going to meet the whole Mishpachah -- my sister, my grandparents, the cousins.
Meanwhile, I met one of his brothers, and uncle/aunt, and some cousins a couple weeks ago. I still haven't met his Dad yet (and both his Mom and my father live in South Florida, but we are hopefully going to plan a trip there soon together). I had fun with his family, and they all gave me the seal of approval. But it's very different -- I'm super close to my family. Sample conversation with my Mom: "We haven't talked in 3 days." "No, we talked on Friday." "Right, today's Sunday. So Friday, Saturday, Sunday, that's 3 days! Are you ignoring your Mother?" He isn't close with anyone in his family -- in fact, he talks to his Mom once every couple weeks, and although he's one of 6 siblings, he doesn't talk to any of them on a regular basis (I talk to my sister several times a week). But I get the feeling that he's jealous of my family, and eager to be a part of it. Rather than turned off and scared by it, which is a super plus!!
Meanwhile, I just got back from a trip to Ft. Lauderdale, where I got to spend time with my TWO sisters -- my older (and much wiser) sister, and my 2 year-old half-sister. Yup, you read that correctly. My dad has a 2 year-old, and recently married the baby's mother, so my older sister and I went down for the weekend to spend time with them. The baby is incredibly adorable, and smart (she clearly has our genes), and it was a fun weekend. Although when we took her trick-or-treating in the mall, and I was walking around with her, the kiosk people we went up to for candy thought that I was her Mom and not her sister (but oh well, wouldn't you assume the 30 year-old was the 2 year-old's Mom, too?).
So anyway, all of this is very exciting -- I think it signals how we are moving along in our relationship. My dad got to hear a lot about him while I was in Florida over the weekend and seems eager to meet him as well (and warned me that S will probably fall in love with B'ham, which does seem to be a possibility). I'm looking forward to this weekend with my Mom, I think they will get along, but looking forward to Thanksgiving even more. And then we are actually planning a vacation together in December!! So fun. :-D
