When I was having babies I wanted a son…..one son, that’s all.

But I got the exact opposite…..lots of daughters.

However with lots of daughters comes sons-in-law and….. I’ve had a few of them.

I had a couple of them over a few weeks ago for dinner while their wives were in Oregon greeting a new family member…..a boy!

I had the opportunity to visit with them WITHOUT their wives…..my daughters.

How different they are.

I enjoyed listening to their conversations…..nothin’ heavy, nothin’ gossipy just a nice back and forth chit chat.  

Nothing that kept me awake that night worrying about what was meant by what was said or what the heck was gonna happen next.

Or how am I gonna fix somethin’ that’s going wrong?

Nope, these guys talked a little bit about the Super Bowl, a little teeny bit about their jobs, drank a couple beers and just enjoyed our dinner.

They were gracious and kind to me, their M.I.L. and laughed and joked with Lobo, their F.I.L.

Over the years most have come and gone actually, only one has had staying power.  

He’s special to me because he’s caught somewhere between an almost peer and a son-in-law.  

He’s 13 years older than my daughter and 13 years younger than us.  He’s the middle that has enabled us to  have many, many fun years as friends, not just family.

He’s always been extremely complimentary to me and he loves my cookin’.  

He’s my daughter’s hero and that makes him my hero too.

How perfect is that for a son in law?

One was a great deceiver.  

I bought it…..for a while.

But for some time he had me fooled and I thought he was IT.  

I used to say that if I could put him on a copy machine and make one of him for every daughter, I’d be happy.

I was wrong.

He was a very bad son-in-law experience. 

And then there was one that really should never have happened but I’m so glad it did because he was partly responsible for our very first grandchild.

He and my daughter are an example of why some high school best friends shouldn’t cross that line, they should stay best friends.  However time passed and their wounds healed they returned to best friend status. 

I swear those two should write a book together about how to stay REALLY GOOD friends after divorcing!!

And it could be no other way.

He’s been in our life since he was 16 years old and I love him deeply.  

There was no way he was walking out of our lives.  

We all love him.  

He remains a cherished member of this family and now we’ve all met the woman that makes him happy and whom he loves.

And, we all love her too. 

Well, then there was another temporary son-in-law but he gave gifts to us.

He was responsible for pulling our daughter off a dangerous, lost road that she was traveling and without him we wouldn’t have our only sweet, sweet granddaughter.  

We didn’t like that our daughter had to go through heartache and some tough times but, there were lessons to learn……………………..

not sure she learned them.

Because, well….there was another temporary one.

This one? A gift of a grandson and a lot of pretending to be someone he was not and, like the other deceiver, he had us fooled for a long time.  

It took paying close attention to our daughter and her behavior to realize this guy was bad.  

I truly think she developed a good grip on understanding her choice in men after this guy. 

She wanted someone just like her dad and she wasn’t getting it.

And then…..there he was!

Another amazing son-in-law.  

This guy is just awesome.

He never married and has no kids…..is there such a thing in today’s world?

I think in my heart he was waiting for my daughter.

This is a gentle, polite, kind, giving, man.

I mean, we REALLY love this guy.

We can see that he adores our daughter and there is no doubt that she’s found her knight in shining armor.

And ya know what?

He’s got lots of similar behaviors to her dad.

She did it!

And last, but really, truly not LEAST is my most recent son-in-law.

In truth, he’s been my daughters partner for well over 14 years so we’ve known him a long time.  

This guy helped make our youngest and last grandson…..and what a gift he is.

We’ve watched this guy come from kinda lost to now a wage earnin’ responsible adult.

This man has a heart of gold. 

I adore his innards.  

He’s a tease, WHAT A TEASE!

No matter what he says…..I first don’t believe him.

I mean a serious heart of gold.

This guy offered his friendship to a street person he met along his truck driving route and brings him food and during the holidays treated him to a sit down restaurant meal.  

He’s that kind of guy.

And as her mother, I speak the truth…..

This son-in-law deserves a medal for loving this wild and crazy daughter of mine like he does.

So,  I never got the one son I wanted but instead have four awesome men that I proudly call mine and I love them and appreciate them for who they are and how they love my girls.