Family

     Several years after my husband and I became acquainted with the Reverend and his wife, we had occasion to meet his out-of-town grown children at a family gathering. Being included in the family get-together was another example of how we were becoming part of the extended family.
      For the most part, we were welcomed with open arms. The children were glad to meet the couple who had befriended and helped their folks in so many ways.
     But there was one family member who was not pleased to meet us, and had a difficult time keeping her feelings to herself. Her rudeness and negative demeanor seemed to be directed more at me, and other family members were surprised and embarrassed about her attitude.
     This person was a daughter-in-law who had always been very close to her in-laws. I think she had probably held the position of 'favorite' for a long time, because there had never been any daughters born to my mentor and his wife.

     As I look back on those years, and the uncomfortable encounters between that daughter-in-law and myself, I wonder just what it was that made her so mad at me. Perhaps she recognized the relationship that was growing between her father-in-law and me for what it was. Perhaps she viewed me as invading her territory. And maybe she realized the secret things that had happened to her in the past, were now happening to me. Whatever it was that she saw in me... it made her very angry.