Outlaws




	------------------------------------------------------------ WRITE 2 THE HEART For stories that are aimed Write 2 The Heart January 22, 2001 Issue #1 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com ------------------------------------------------------------ By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of "WRITE 2 THE HEART". You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ SPONSORSHIP NOTICE ------------------------------------------------------------ For a FREE personalized health analysis profile visit Teraforma Health, Inc. at : http://teraformahealth.com/tfh/56094.html Your personal profile results will be shown immediately along with appropriate nutritional recommendations. ------------------------------------------------------------ In-laws And Out-laws by: Cheryl Speir ------------------------------------------------------------ I'm an outlaw. There, I've said it. I never told anyone outside of my family before. I was married two months before I found out. I must say it took me by surprise. How can you be an outlaw and not know it you ask? I'll tell you. My husband's family makes a pilgrimage to Jackson each year for the annual Christmas family reunion. There we catch up on all the latest news on this warm, talented family. My first experience with this family was in 1972 while David and I were just dating. I had never been made to feel so welcome in my life. The next Christmas, David and I had been married for a short time when the annual family reunion rolled around. I looked forward to going with great anticipation. I kept remembering the warm reception I had received the year before and couldn't wait to join in the fun and laughter again. We arrived amidst lots of hugs and kisses. I think I must have glowed with all the compliments the maternal aunts bestowed upon me. I remember thinking, this is how families should be, always happy to see each other. I never had that growing up. My father died when I was young and his mother took my siblings and me from my mother, then placed us in a children's home when she discovered she had cancer. There was no warmth in her or the children's home, no sense of family. Mamma Knight, David's grandmother, was the matriarch of the family. She had me come sit beside her so she could get to know her new grand-daughter. Each one of her daughters would come and steal me away to do the same. My wonderful mother-in-law would walk up behind me and put her arms around me while they were talking to me and say, "How do you like my new daughter-in-law? Isn't she beautiful and sweet?" She almost had me believing it. Just when I was floating on air with happiness, the uncles came as a group to talk to me. I eagerly turned my face to them expecting more of the same treatment I had already received. Uncle Bill spoke up first, "We are here to let you know that you will NEVER be an in-law in this family." "That's right; you tell her Bill" said Uncle George. The whole time Uncle John was nodding his head in agreement. I was stunned. My mind raced to figure out what I had done wrong. How had I offend these men? My tongue was tied. I thought I would start crying. All I could do was stare from one to another wishing the floor would take me away. Why could't Aunt Roselle, Aunt Bernice or Aunt Edith come steal me away now? Where was my protective mother-in-law? I glanced around the room and saw everyone glance furtively my way with a smile on their faces. I even heard a voice say "They're telling her." Had I been found lacking during the getting-to-know-you talks? Uncle Bill continued, "You are now an outlaw." With those words, my brain went numb. I couldn't even think of a way to excuse myself. "Roselle, Bernice, Edith, and Grace are our in-laws." I nodded, wondering why he was changing the subject. Uncle George pointed to Connie, Uncle John's daughter. She's an in-law." He points to Cyndy, Uncle Bill's daughter, "She's an in-law." He points to David's sister Ginger and her husband, also a David, "She is an in-law, but he is an out-law." Uncle John interjects "We out-laws have to stick together." "In this family to be an in-law, you must be born into it." Uncle Bill continues,"if you marry into the family, you are an out-law. So that makes you, George, John, Hank, Dixie, Helen, and I out-laws. Your children will be in-laws, but you will always be an out-law and that will never change." Now I get it. I'm being included in a family joke that has been going on for years. Wow, what a relief! Now 27 years later, the original out-laws are down to two, Aunt Dixie and Aunt Helen. The others are no longer with us. Of the original in-laws, only two remain, Aunt Bernice and Aunt Roselle. I must say I miss the ones who are no longer with us terribly. Among the absent are my wonderful in-laws, Grace and Hank. The annual Christmas family reunion still goes on. We talk with love about the in-laws and out-laws that are no longer with us. We all want our children to have a sense of a large connected family and to hear the stories about a generation that shaped their lives. I tell my new daughter-in-laws as they come into the family, "You can never be an in-law in this family, you are an out-law along with me, but don't worry, your children will be in-laws. After all, we out-laws need to stick together." _________________________________________________ Cheryl Speir is the editor of Write 2 The Heart and proud to still be an out-law in the Knight clan after all these years and hopes to bring more stories of the in-laws and out-laws in the future. She resides in southern Mississippi with her in-law husband, David and two of their four sons. She can be contacted at cbspeir@hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Readers: Do you have a heartwarming tale to share? Please submit to: moderator@write2theheart.com We are always happy to hear from you regarding one of our stories, so let us know what you think. -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ CLASSIFIED ADS ------------------------------------------------------------ Visit TeraForma Health, Inc. http://teraformahealth.com/tfh/56094.html for FREE personalized body typing. Discover which foods and exercise programs are right for you body type. ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001 Write 2 The Heart ------------------------------------------------------------