I was in college or had recently quit after my mother died. I was working all the time but had no money as I paid for life and for what college I had attended. I am not sure I was the type of person you wanted your daughter to date.
I was likely late, again. It was cold, very, very cold this particular winter . . . and it was dark. I was very, very cold as I stood there, on the stoop. On my hands I wore thin cotton gardening gloves with holes in them. I might as well have had bare hands, but they were all I could afford. I stood and shivered as I rang the bell. I had gotten accustomed to having fingers that barely worked from being so cold.
She answered the door and looked at me for a brief moment before inviting me in. Was she disappointed it was me and not some other boy? She looked at my hands, did she expect someone who could dress better? She let her daughter know that I had arrived and the evening proceeded.
She became my mother in law. She and her husband would welcome me into their family. She was always supportive no matter what, for decades. I have not forgotten and will always be thankful.
She gave me a Christmas gift that winter. It was a surprise. After all, I was just a boyfriend. It was the only gift that mattered. It was a pair of warm ski gloves.
I am the one to forget to wish her a happy birthday.
I hope this remembrance will be accepted as a belated one.