There is Also a "We"

Ok, maybe the word "we" cannot literally be found in "marriage." But to elaborate a bit more on my last post, marriage is clearly a union, not only of two people but of two families. I am thinking about this union of families now, because Dan and I and my parents just returned from a trip to Chicago to visit his family, a mix of his parents, sister and brother-in-law and their young daughter, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I knew the weekend was a success when my parents were discussing their next trip out there as we boarded the plane to come back. I'm having trouble describing the weekend in words, which is why I broke my rule and am going back into the post and reworking it a bit. While Dan and I chose to marry each other, our families didn't choose to be in-laws. Now they're two groups of relatives interconnected for life simply because sparks flew between their son and daughter at a D.C. bar one night. This randomness could have led to awkwardness and tensions, as can be the case when marriages bring families together, but the weekend didn't have those feelings. It had a kind of magic instead. My parents looking at old picture albums, my dad talking wine with Dan's family, and all of us relaxing by Dan's parents pool while the sun beat down on a hot but beautiful July afternoon. There's something exciting about meeting a new family, discovering their background, their old stories, and then making them your own.