The First Time

I'm sitting here, alone, in my in-laws' living room, thinking. Ace is off at a prayer meeting and his parents are going grocery shopping. It's quiet, something that seems rare these days.

I was thinking about the first time I met my in-laws. I've actually known them longer than I've known Ace (but not nearly as well).

The first time I met Ace's parents, I was getting a ride back to OKC from Tulsa from Ace's brother, Ron* (who is also my friend). I was up in Tulsa with my church group, and it was decided that rather than squeeze into a van with 15 other people, I'd ride home with Ron.

* Not his real name.

Before we left town, Ron decided that I should meet his parents (I'm not quite sure why). So, he brought me over and I met them. I also got to meet my niece, because they were baby-sitting her at the time. The only other semi-exciting part of this story is that we had dinner before we left town.

I'm fairly sure Ron had a crush or something on me at one point. But, he never actually asked me out on a date. Instead, he would try to find other ways to get to spend time with me without any chance of being rejected. It was somewhere between cute and just weird. It also lead to me always wondering if I was just imagining his interest.

Had Ron asked me out, before I met Ace, I probably would have accepted. It probably wouldn't have lasted, as we aren't right for each other and it would have seemed like I was dating my brother. But he never did get his courage up to ask, so I'll never really know. And for that, I'm grateful.