In-Laws

I'm very sorry for your loss.

My FIL was hilarious without meaning to be. For instance, one time he was driving his truck pulling the utility trailer through the gate coming from the barn. He got it a bit to close to the gate post (latch side) and wrinkled the fender. When my BIL asked him about it he swore up and down that he never touched the post. He eventually did admit to hitting the post but the look on his face when denying it initially was awesome... He always would have the most innocent look on his face when he was totally guilty...

cover2 said:

My father-in-law recently passed away at the age of 95. He wasn’t ready to go and planned to live as long as his mother (102), but unfortunately his body simply gave out. He was quite a character. Loved to talk, but was as deaf as a post, so his part in any conversation was as an orator; your part was as the audience. I gave the eulogy at his funeral and shared this story about him as an “engaging conversationalist”:

Not long after my wife and I were married, we were at the in-laws after church for lunch. We had finished eating and were sitting in the den watching tv and chatting, my father-in-law, “Mr. Billy,” reading the Sunday paper, when there suddenly came a knock at the front door. It had to be somebody we didn’t know because family and friends knew to come to the door in the carport. Being hard of hearing, my MIL had to tell my FIL to go see who that was at the door. With a disgruntled sigh and a rattling of the newspaper, he begrudgingly arose and went to the door. I could hear him greeting someone and then closing the door to go outside. Not giving it anymore thought, we resumed our visiting and tv watching.

About 45 minutes later, it dawned on my MIL that Mr. Billy had not come back in the house. In a concerned tone, she told me to go outside and make sure nothing had happened to him. As we were out in the country and had very few uninvited visitors that weren’t family, I wasn’t sure what to expect. To my surprise, what I found was actually a historic event unfolding. The folks who had knocked at the front door were Jehovah’s Witness looking to share their message, but became unwittingly trapped by my father-in-law and for the first time ever, it was the Jehovah’s Witness that were trying to escape from someone and not vice versa! When I say that Mr. Billy was an “engaging conversationalist,” I am not exaggerating! As the late, great Jerry Clower might say, he could “shell down the corn!”

If you’ve got a good in-law story, please share.

Click to expand...

Great story cover and sorry for your loss. While I don’t have a story as good as that one, my FIL can talk your ear off as well. It’s usually a long story about growing up in Virginia. One of those things when we are together you ask him to tell a story to the person ignoring you and then disappear.

I would say his greatest talent is from his “inventions”. Little things or contraptions that he has made that in no way should work, but magically do. His latest is a ventilation system for the cat litter box that filters the smell outside. It’s a whole contraption of boxes and plastic bags, but somehow works. He swears that he invented a few things you see in the store, but got beat to the patent.

@cover2 I'm sorry for your loss. Mrs G’s parents are both in their mid 90’s so I can certainly sympathize.

I too, was a winner in the “in-law” lottery. They are wonderfully nice, kind, people who are a joy to be around and have always treated me very well. I knew for sure I’d married into a great family the day before our wedding.

My in-laws were by no means rich but insisted on paying for our wedding, and kept telling us to spare no expense. Not wanting to take advantage, Mrs G and I worked on cutting costs wherever we could in ways that wouldn’t seem obvious. One way we saved a few bucks was by supplying all the booze. I found a very friendly liquor store owner who agreed to take back any unopened bottles or unbroken six packs of beer. He also significantly discounted the whole purchase. The down side was we had to pick it all up and deliver it to where the reception was being held. My best man and one of the groomsmen helped me pick it up and when we got to the reception location my FIL was waiting and helped us carry it all in. Naturally it was an unseasonably warm day and we had to take it up a flight of steep stairs.

After we were done, he asked me if the beer was already cold. When I said yes he disappeared and came back with four of them for us to enjoy. That beer with two of my oldest friends and my soon to be FIL on a hot afternoon on my last day of bachelorhood was particularly enjoyable and my FIL joined in the conversation in a way that felt like he had known us all just as long we knew each other.

I’ve shared many a drink with him in the almost 29 years since, but I still often think back to that one.

gingerlover said:

Great story cover and sorry for your loss. While I don’t have a story as good as that one, my FIL can talk your ear off as well. It’s usually a long story about growing up in Virginia. One of those things when we are together you ask him to tell a story to the person ignoring you and then disappear.

I would say his greatest talent is from his “inventions”. Little things or contraptions that he has made that in no way should work, but magically do. His latest is a ventilation system for the cat litter box that filters the smell outside. It’s a whole contraption of boxes and plastic bags, but somehow works. He swears that he invented a few things you see in the store, but got beat to the patent.

Click to expand...

My FIL has been gone since 1999. He spent 2.5 years in a German POW camp after jumping out of a B-17. To say he had patience would be a stretch. My inlaws got a new puppy later in life and Buck walked him. He carried a pellet gun to correct the dog if it ran away. One day he came huffing and puffing (COPD from Lucky Strikes) and grabbed his Browning .270. Seem the pup had gotten out of range of the pellet gun. I had to convince him that the hunting rifle was counterproductive. BTW-they lived in a city neighborhood. Thr pup outlived my FIL.

Beautiful post, Cover. I'm not sure that I could say enough about my in-laws without tearing up.

To make a short story long as my father-in-law would say, he was first my mentor at their computer company. He hired me to take over his sales position and taught me everything about the business. That's where I met his son. We always joke that I married him just for his parents and they paid me to stay with him. My FIL was the person that I admired the most and was honored to call him Dad. He was the smartest businessman, most humble and funniest person. He was diagnosed with ALS in the spring of 2018 and even at the most serious of Dr's appointments we would laugh so hard together that we would almost cry. He passed away a short time later and was most upset that he wouldn't be able to care for my MIL. After raising 8 kids together, that was his sole duty in life - to care for her. She passed away three years later on Jan 22.

I’m so thankful for the legacy both of them created for our family. I won the jackpot on in-laws.

NVGator said:

Click to expand...

Close but his somehow work unlike Mr. Peltzer there.

I had a wonderful mother-in-law who, much to my husband's chagrin, always agreed with me. That's the secret of getting along with in-laws - always agree with them as your son/daughter will still pretty much still love you regardless, or at least forgive you. She was a great roll model of a MIL.

My MIL was entirely too busy to ever interfer in our marriage as during the 42 years of our marriage (up to my husband's death), she was married 4 times. She would change husbands about every 7 to 10 years. I didn't like FIL #1 as he was an alcoholic, but really liked #2, #3 & #4.

I’ve always had a good relationship with my father-in-law, but it’s gotten even better since my own dad passed away 2 1/2 years ago. We’re blessed that my mom and my in-laws all live in our neighborhood. We have family dinner every Friday, and church and brunch on Sunday. It’s great for my kids (I never knew my grandparents), they help with the dogs when we’re at work and school, it’s convenient for holidays, and it’s really nice that no one has to spend the night at our house. ;)

But it wasn’t always great with my MIL. She took a loooong time to warm up to me. So much so, that I could go on for hours about her. But I’ll share one story to give you an idea of what I mean. The first Christmas that my wife and I were together, she didn’t get me a gift. I was surprised and a bit disappointed, but I didn’t make too much of it. In hindsight, I should have been grateful, because the next year started a string of gifts that would have made the Grinch proud. One year, I got a box cutter. Then came a series of regifted freebies and assorted junk. And the piece de resistance was my birthday present in 2010. She got me an issue of Sports Illustrated. Not a subscription, mind you. Just an issue. And not just any issue, but the one with Tebow crying on the cover after the ‘09 SEC Championship game. My birthday is in July.

But all is well now. In fact, I actually look forward to birthday and Christmas presents from my in-laws now. And spending quality family time is the best gift of all.

Gator by the Sea said:

I’ve always had a good relationship with my father-in-law, but it’s gotten even better since my own dad passed away 2 1/2 years ago. We’re blessed that my mom and my in-laws all live in our neighborhood. We have family dinner every Friday, and church and brunch on Sunday. It’s great for my kids (I never knew my grandparents), they help with the dogs when we’re at work and school, it’s convenient for holidays, and it’s really nice that no one has to spend the night at our house. ;)

But it wasn’t always great with my MIL. She took a loooong time to warm up to me. So much so, that I could go on for hours about her. But I’ll share one story to give you an idea of what I mean. The first Christmas that my wife and I were together, she didn’t get me a gift. I was surprised and a bit disappointed, but I didn’t make too much of it. In hindsight, I should have been grateful, because the next year started a string of gifts that would have made the Grinch proud. One year, I got a box cutter. Then came a series of regifted freebies and assorted junk. And the piece de resistance was my birthday present in 2010. She got me an issue of Sports Illustrated. Not a subscription, mind you. Just an issue. And not just any issue, but the one with Tebow crying on the cover after the ‘09 SEC Championship game. My birthday is in July.

But all is well now. In fact, I actually look forward to birthday and Christmas presents from my in-laws now. And spending quality family time is the best gift of all.

Click to expand...

Did she ever tell you why it took so long for her to warm up???

Alex.

AlexDaGator said:

Did she ever tell you why it took so long for her to warm up???

Click to expand...

She’s just a very stubborn person... guess it took her that long to admit she was wrong about me.

CDGator said:

Beautiful post, Cover. I'm not sure that I could say enough about my in-laws without tearing up.

To make a short story long as my father-in-law would say, he was first my mentor at their computer company. He hired me to take over his sales position and taught me everything about the business. That's where I met his son. We always joke that I married him just for his parents and they paid me to stay with him. My FIL was the person that I admired the most and was honored to call him Dad. He was the smartest businessman, most humble and funniest person. He was diagnosed with ALS in the spring of 2018 and even at the most serious of Dr's appointments we would laugh so hard together that we would almost cry. He passed away a short time later and was most upset that he wouldn't be able to care for my MIL. After raising 8 kids together, that was his sole duty in life - to care for her. She passed away three years later on Jan 22.

I’m so thankful for the legacy both of them created for our family. I won the jackpot on in-laws.

Click to expand...

If you don't mind my saying... I think your in-laws lottery ticket that Seedy bought them was definitely a winner... ;)

Shoot, my wife doesn’t even like her own parents. And, I have to standby my wife.

cover2 said:

My father-in-law recently passed away at the age of 95. He wasn’t ready to go and planned to live as long as his mother (102), but unfortunately his body simply gave out. He was quite a character. Loved to talk, but was as deaf as a post, so his part in any conversation was as an orator; your part was as the audience. I gave the eulogy at his funeral and shared this story about him as an “engaging conversationalist”:

Not long after my wife and I were married, we were at the in-laws after church for lunch. We had finished eating and were sitting in the den watching tv and chatting, my father-in-law, “Mr. Billy,” reading the Sunday paper, when there suddenly came a knock at the front door. It had to be somebody we didn’t know because family and friends knew to come to the door in the carport. Being hard of hearing, my MIL had to tell my FIL to go see who that was at the door. With a disgruntled sigh and a rattling of the newspaper, he begrudgingly arose and went to the door. I could hear him greeting someone and then closing the door to go outside. Not giving it anymore thought, we resumed our visiting and tv watching.

About 45 minutes later, it dawned on my MIL that Mr. Billy had not come back in the house. In a concerned tone, she told me to go outside and make sure nothing had happened to him. As we were out in the country and had very few uninvited visitors that weren’t family, I wasn’t sure what to expect. To my surprise, what I found was actually a historic event unfolding. The folks who had knocked at the front door were Jehovah’s Witness looking to share their message, but became unwittingly trapped by my father-in-law and for the first time ever, it was the Jehovah’s Witness that were trying to escape from someone and not vice versa! When I say that Mr. Billy was an “engaging conversationalist,” I am not exaggerating! As the late, great Jerry Clower might say, he could “shell down the corn!”

If you’ve got a good in-law story, please share.

Click to expand...

The Sunday noon meal after church was the big meal of the week and far and away my FIL's favorite, but as a SW Florida prosecuting attorney he seldom enjoyed one without interruption. Sunday after Sunday his food got cold as he dealt with the crisis du jour. One Sunday, as he finished saying Grace, the phone rang. Grumbling briefly, he answered the phone curtly. On his end we heard:"Yeah", "yeah", "no", and "I'll come when I've finished my dinner." He returned to the table and began a leisurely meal. Someone asked what was it?
"Old Mrs. Smith is on the second floor of her ranch house and has two trespassers pinned down behind a water trough and she won't speak to anyone but me." Surprised at how casual he was behaving, I naively asked it he wasn't worried she would kill someone. "Not at all", he said as he continued to savor his Sunday dinner finishing with a big piece of chocolate cake, "Mrs. Smith is an excellent shot. If she wanted to kill them, they would be dead already. They will stay behind the water trough until I get there."

My in-laws were the nicest most humble people you could ever meet. My father-in-law ran general store and was a cattle farmer in Tennessee. They were always very kind to me and they raised two beautiful daughters. My wife told me this story.

Her father came into his barn one day and saw a big Holstein milk cow lying down and gasping for air. The cow was swelling up, At first it was thought the cow was foundering. Whatever was going on the cow was in distress. He looked at his right hand man who was called "Pig" and said "Pig, it looks like this cow is going to die if we don't do something real quick. Call the vet now!."

Mr. Doug, my father-in-law, calmly took out his knife and cut off a piece of a water hose lying on the barn floor. Next he made an incision with his knife between two of the cow's ribs and fed the hose through the incision through the intercostal space and into the cow's chest cavity. Air and fluid immediately came gushing out of the external end of the hose onto the barn floor. The cow suddenly began to breathe easier.

Shortly afterwards the vet pulled up in his truck. Mr. Doug told Pig to "throw that water hose in the barrel. I don't want the vet to see what I've done to this cow." The vet came running into the barn and began to examine the cow. He said, "Well Doug I don't know what happened to your cow, but I've found a cut place here over your cow's rib. I've got the bleeding stopped and I'll wash the wound out and put some special salve on it. Other than that your cow seems all right and I think she'll be fine. Thanks for calling me. I'm glad I was able to help."

What had happened was that the cow had suffered a closed spontaneous tension pneumothorax probably from a ruptured bleb on the surface of a lung. The water hose served as a chest tube which decompressed the pneumothorax and saved the cow's life. I looked it up, and although not common, cows can have a pneumothorax There are special chest tube devices for them. My father-in-law just knew intuitively what to do in an emergency. He had never seen a spontaneous pneumothorax in a cow before. Sometimes you have to shoot first and ask questions later.

Nice thread topic, @cover2 .

I give my in-laws heat at times, mostly because they’re Cuban/Dominican and just think completely differently than me. In my defense, my Italian/English ancestors have basically been running the planet for the last 2,000 years, so my standards are high.

But honestly my in laws are pretty great people, especially considering I met them both the night I asked for their daughter’s hand, and exactly 5 days before I actually married her. I was a serious wild man in my 20s. My entire life revolved around trading, scotch and NY/PBC strip clubs. And while they didn’t necessarily know all the details, they gave a cocky 27 year old their blessing and a shot at being their son-in-law, frankly with no data to support the potential 180 I would do. For that I’m eternally grateful.

bradgator2 said:

Shoot, my wife doesn’t even like her own parents. And, I have to standby my wife.

Click to expand...

My father in law was a heck of a nice guy, very likeable but he was an alcoholic. My mother in law was always a bit of a slut in my opinion, married 5 times twice to my wife's father who she ended up leaving for another man while her husband lay dying in a VA hospital. A strange thing is both her mother and her father died in separate years on my birthday.