For Aileen. . .

Well I have often said I lucked out in the mother-in-law department and that is not a lie. I have been so blessed with the most wonderful mother-in-law. I have often heard the horror stories from others about how their mother-in-laws never like anything they do, are often critical of them, and disapproving. That has not been my experience at all. From the beginning I have never received anything but total support, and encouragement. Even before Gil and I were engaged, she found out I was at OBC for the summer and therefore fending for myself so she had me over to dinner every night. After being at college for so long, home cooked meals were rare and that summer it was so nice to have such healthy wonderful meals. Then there was that week I got violently ill with tonsillitis. I had a high fever and was throwing up non-stop. Gil didn't want me to stay at the dorm like that and so his mom told him to bring me to their house and they took care of me. I was so grateful for that. She is a woman who is very generous of herself and her things. When Gil and I got engaged and phoned to tell her, her response was to tell us to go to the spare room where she already had bought all our dishes. It was such a huge surprise and I was overwhelmed, and her generosity to us continued. She listened to all my wedding plans, and never once interfered or said she thought something was strange. She raised her son to be independent and self-sufficient. He knows how to do laundry, cook, clean, sew and fix the car. I couldn't have asked for a better mate. I always tell Gil I want to raise Chris in the same way because having a husband who knows how to do things has been such a blessing. When we had our first baby her husband died four days before. When we found out we went straight to the house and at that time we were all so overwhelmed with the surprise of it and the grief. I can remember she just kept saying she felt so bad for me, because here I was nine months pregnant, a week overdue. She was in her time of grief worried and concerned for me. That was so touching. She has never once interfered in how I raise the kids, or come over and told me I'm doing it wrong, in fact at every turn she encourages and supports me. The kids all love going over to her place and visiting with her and her new husband and their generosity continues. Every time they go on a trip they always bring stuff back for everyone. Last summer she and Bill took our younger kids out to the Jays game, where they spoiled them with hot dogs and drinks and McDonalds after and of course souvenirs. Our kids had never been to a game before and absolutely loved it. A few years ago my weight hit an all time high. I was on a crazy drug and it made me gain weight. It was a long hard struggle for me, my self-esteem plummeted and I hated even leaving the house. It was a long struggle to figure out the cause and then find a way to get back to me. I always felt like everyone was judging me because of the weight and when I started to lose of course I was excited. Aileen's only comment during this time when she saw me after I had only lost about 20, was that she didn't want me to lose too much. She was concerned for my health not my appearance and that was so encouraging to me and such a boost. It was a reminder to me of what is really important, not just what the world says is important, but that health is the main thing. I think the thing I love the most are those birthday cards. She always writes a little message in them about what I mean to her. I always think that I'm not a very good daughter-in-law, not terribly chatty on the phone and for the first while not chatty at all. The Hunt family was a hard one to fit into for me because they are opposite of me. They are a family of extroverts and I am an introvert so of course for awhile it was very uncomfortable. However she always sends these messages that make me feel like I am the best daughter-in-law she could have, it always is such a boost for my self esteem and always it is a card that touches my heart and makes me cry. I look forward to those every year and I always think of how sweet she is to go out and take the time to find just the perfect card. She has four kids and 12 grandchildren, yet she finds the time to make us all feel special. I am so grateful and blessed to have Aileen as my mother-in-law, to have her as a grandmother for my kids, and I can see where Gil got the heart he has.