... that Married Dear Old Dad

 So to help my wife out in my absence, I flew out someone who I knew had extensive experience with infants and would assure that my wife made no mistakes—my mother. Not a good idea. Need I say more?   -- 'An Einganeer's Tale', page 32

    It's no secret that my wife and mother got off to a rocky start.  I confess, I've always been a bit of a momma's boy, which is never a good thing for a bride marrying a 21 year old kid.  Over time though, my wife and mother grew closer than I ever thought possible.

    I was the first in my family to have ever gone to college.  Although she saw value in a good education, my mother really agreed to me going away to college in hopes that I'd meet a good college girl to settle down with.  And then what do I do?  I fall in love with a girl still in my home town high school.  She never thought it would last, but it did.

    After a few years of marriage, my wife realized how much I am like my father.  She then began to sympathized with my mother, as well as study how she handled my father.   She employed some of the same techniques on me, and discovered that they work! 

    My mother recognized this, and because imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, she developed a profound love for her young daughter-in-law.  They began to regularly communicate and share everything.  From my perspective, what occurred was a miraculous transformation of my wife, into my mother.  I had indeed married a Girl just like the Girl that Married dear old Dad. 

    My wife was the one to care for my mother while she was in hospice.  And while I was off snoring away in the other room, she was holding my mother's hand when she died.