I started dating a girl in my late teens, and it seemed to be going well. One day while hanging out at her house, her father came into the living room and started talking to her in French (they’re of French heritage, I’m not). I could see that the girl was getting upset answering back, then he got noticeably angrier, and it escalated until finally she grabbed my hand, said “let’s go” and we went outside.
I asked what that was all about and she proceeded to tell me how her father didn’t want me in their house because he had heard stories about my father, the drunk that had multiple run-ins with the law, none of which were good. She tried defending me by saying that I was nice and she liked me to which he replied that he didn’t care what she thought because she needed to trust him, I was only going to hurt her and get her into trouble. Apples don’t fall far from the tree.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. So I did nothing but be myself. I didn’t avoid him. I just went on as though I had never heard what was said while his daughter and I continued to date.
That was in 1997. His daughter and I got engaged and bought our first house together in 2001. We were married in 2003. We tried, unsuccessfully, for many emotional years to have children. We battled together successfully through my wife’s cancer between 2009 – 2010. We were blessed with our first daughter in 2013. We happily welcomed our second daughter just two months ago. We have no intentions of not growing old together.
There have been so many times over the last 15 years that my father-in-law has told me how happy he is to have me as a son-in-law and how thankful he is that his daughter is with someone that treats her so well and is always there for her.
I can’t imagine how our lives would’ve been had my wife listened to her father.
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