My son is a new dad. On a recent visit, I met his wife for the first time. Theirs was a whirlwind courtship, one I questioned, but turned over to God, because I have no clue how to handle things, usually.

When they got married ahead of (my) schedule, I wondered. When they got pregnant ahead of (my) schedule, I wondered. My son is 23, doing well in the Navy, and hasn’t lived at home for four years, but I still visualize him playing with Legos in his room.

I arrive at the airport wondering about things. What if his house is a ramshackle mess? What if I don’t like his wife? What if HER mother stakes out a claim and I feel like a stranger in my son’s house? What if I disapprove of their parenting skills? I command my mind to be still as I head toward baggage claim to meet my son, hoping that he didn’t forget to pick me up.

Advertisement

He didn’t.

It is a strange ballet, the dance between mother and son as he becomes the driver and she becomes the passenger. He met me with a huge hug and a grin, gathered up my luggage and efficiently deposited me in the back seat by his newborn son. I cautiously hugged my daughter-in-law. We were both a little scared, I think, since we’d never met and covered it up with innocuous prattle for the next 20 miles. Since the baby was wound up like a burrito in his carseat I impatiently anticipated the moment I could scoop him up in my arms. Would she be generous with him?

She was.

I didn’t know quite how to act in their home. My son surprised me by setting firm boundaries. When I wandered into their bedroom with a question, he stepped to the door and explained his WIFE was showering in the master bath, and their bedroom was off limits for the time being. Thus chastened, I scampered downstairs. Proud, actually, that he’d protected his wife’s privacy. My brain was absorbing mother-in-law rules at warp speed.

One day we left baby and wife home and grocery shopped together. Mother and son time. It was good. For once, I kept my mouth shut and listened. He shared a young man’s dreams - dreams set in motion through establishing a family. I felt I was on holy ground; observing the emergence of seeds I’d planted his entire life. His glad words pelted me like welcome rain after a long drought.

This young man and I have weathered indescribable storms together. I was not sure at the time that he would recover enough to clutch at dreams, let alone realize them. He has not experienced the blessing of a long-term, peaceful and stable family unit. In his formative years, healthy male role models were in short supply; so he did the best he could, and so did I.

And now he was talking about dreams. His vision for his son. He wondered why I had not thought to bring his Legos; he wanted to give them to his son now.

I had a big chuckle over that one.

Their home on the Navy base was spacious and secure; a young couple’s home — bare walls, hand-me-down furniture and mismatched dishes. A baby monitor. Two baby swings — one upstairs and one down. A crib and changing table. A puppy. Filled with the exuberance and foolishness and love and innocence of youth. His friends filed in the last night — at his request — to meet me; a few single guys, two married couples and three kids under age four.

A merry chaos. I savored every minute, my grandbaby clutched firmly in my arms.

Too soon, it was time to return and my son and his family drove me to the airport. My new daughter-in-law hugged me goodbye, said she loved me and asked if she could call me ‘mom.’

Does life get any better than this?