What's in a vacation?

Last week, I finally had the opportunity to introduce my fiancée to my family.  I can’t tell you how nervous I was about it.  While I’m not completely attached to my family, I discovered that it was extremely important to me that they at least be able to be happy for me.  I didn’t quite need their approval of her, just that they be able to be happy for me.  That seems easy enough, but it hasn’t really happened before.  My first girlfriend, they were less than thrilled with.  My second girlfriend, I never even told them about while I was dating her (well, two of my siblings knew, but the rest of the family remained oblivious). 

Now, this is a tightrope to walk to explain: my family aren’t flint-hearted villains who don’t want me to be happy, and I’m not the kind of guy who’d be devastated and would break it off if they didn’t approve or couldn’t be happy for me.  But if the family isn’t happy for me, then there’s probably something I’m not seeing or considering, that love is blindsiding me to.  So I was a little concerned as to how the week would go.

And it was a hectic week.  The main purpose of the visit wasn’t for them to meet my fiancée, but to attend my little sister’s wedding.  And also, my brother was in town with his wife and kids, and while I’d met them, my other siblings hadn’t.  So this was a full plate for the family, and we could very easily have gotten lost in the shuffle.

In some ways we did.  We stayed in a hotel since the aforementioned brother and family were staying with my parents, so we were separated from the family in that way.  And much of the time was spent seeing sights that at one time or another meant a lot to me.  Still there was time for the family, all four siblings and almost all my nieces and nephews (and one smelly rat disguised as a dog).  I don’t know which sibling got to know my fiancée best, or if my parents got that chance the most.

All I can really tell you is the results: one brother said he would start calling my fiancée “sis”; the other brother said he’s never seen me happier than I am with her, one sibling has added her as a Facebook friend (as did the sister’s fiancée and two of her children), the other sister….well she ‘s the one that got married, so let’s let the lovebirds finish honeymooning first, shall we?  (Though the new bro-in-law has also friended her on FB too).

As for my parents?  Well, they’re parents.  They have concerns a-plenty.  Most of it entails either the legal falderal that awaits us or things that are directly affected by aforementioned falderal.  They're happy for me though, and they're looking forward to our wedding.

Normally when I post to this blog, I try to have something learned along the way, or something important to say.  I don’t know if I have that this time.  I learned some things this past week sure, but nothing too grandiose that could be the moral lesson on an episode of “South Park” or anything like that.  To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of the whole experience.  I really wish I’d had more time to spend with my siblings to get them to know my fiancée better.  And the major upside of it all is that we feel ready to start planning our wedding, hopefully in April,

So um.. I guess the moral is get your passports renewed, because it’ll probably be in Canada.