Reflection on J

EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the A to Z Challenge, an exercise in self-flagellation we bloggers inflict upon ourselves to teach us discipline as writers and to build audience. During the month of April, I’ll be posting 26 times, once for every letter in the alphabet. Looking on the bright side, we can each be thankful this is an English language exercise and not Khmer, the language of Cambodia, which sets the world record with a 74-character alphabet! After some misgivings, I’ve decided to proceed with my initial idea of blogging about the special people in my life whose names begin with the appropriate letter. There will be difficulties, like having more than one special person whose names begin with the same letter, forcing me to choose. And then there are those letters — O, Q and X among them — where no name springs readily to mind. What will I do then? We’ll have to wait and see!

J is for the Outlaws!

First came Jay.

We gave birth to two daughters and a son, but when you take the words son-in-law and daughter-in-law literally, we have more children than that.

Next came Jason.

In chronological order, we’ve welcomed Jay, Jason and Jennifer to the family, and without them, we wouldn’t have amassed six grandchildren, five of whom you’ve already read about in the A-to-Z Challenge.

Last came Jennifer.

I refer to my sons- and daughter-in-law as “the outlaws,” but only in jest. They’re all as “in” as they can be. I try to treat them the same as my own children, meaning there have been times when I’ve wanted to give all of ’em a good smack!

What are the odds all three would have J names? Where the A-to-Z Challenge is concerned, my life would have been a whole lot easier if they were named Quinton, Ursula and Yancy, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

The main thing is that my children all ended up marrying good people who have brought laughter, joy and the occasional 6-pack into my home.

So here’s to Jay, Jason and Jennifer, I wouldn’t be half the father-in-law I am today without you!