The whole thing started after church. We were meeting Don and Mom and Derrick for brunch to celebrate Father's Day. As usual, we were there before them, so while we waited, Jeff decided to call his dad and see what his plans were for the day. When he discovered that the family would all be getting together later that day, he put the phone down and asked if I'd be interested in going over and meeting them. When I said sure, he got back on the phone and told his dad he would be "bringing a guest."
Brunch with my family was fun. Jeff seems very comfortable with my family. He and Don have a lot in common and they had plenty to talk about. And Jeff told me later that he enjoyed getting the chance to get to know mom a little better too (he said she seemed a little more comfortable on this visit. Probably due to the smaller group and the lack of "first impression" pressure).
After brunch, we went our separate ways for a couple of hours. It gave us a chance to go home, change out of our church clothes, and each grab a small catnap. Sunday catnaps are very important.
I awoke from my nap to the sound of the doorbell ringing, followed quickly (and loudly) by the barks of two dogs who were just surprised out of a deep slumber themselves. By the time I stumbled over to the door and opened it up, I realized that I had slept too long and was going to have to figure out how to shake the drowsiness quickly so I don't make a bad impression to the parents.
I was able to rouse myself on the drive over to their house. As I had said before, his childhood home was not very far away from my childhood home, so the second we turned onto the familiar street of 39th, my brain woke right up. As we drove down, I pointed out the road that lead to my old church and looked at all the changes that the houses on my street had undergone.
When we got to the house, Jeff took me through a quick refresher of the members of his family (mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, and nieces) and we headed in.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was his youngest niece (age 14?) sitting across the room, grinning up at her uncle and this strange woman following behind him. She had a very bright, very sweet smile that literally felt blinding to me. Jeff started making the introductions and my eyes adjusted to the bright smile in time to catch the look that swept quickly around the room: "Did you know he was dating someone???"
Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. As we sat down on the couch, I gave him a sideways glance and asked very softly "did you even tell your parents about me?" His sheepish and apologetic look told me all I needed to know. Perfect. Throw shy Deema to the unsuspecting family. This should be interesting. . .
Ready, set, GO!
Actually, it wasn't that bad. His dad is very much into photography, so their house is filled with beautiful photos, which gave me an instant connection with him. Phew, one parent down, one to go.
Luckily, his dad provided the perfect way in. At some point, his dad commented that I look familiar to him and wondered if we've ran into each other before. Jeff said, "tell her where you used to go to church" and wouldn't you know, it was the same little church I had JUST pointed out to Jeff on the way over. They started going there shortly after I moved to Tennessee.
Suddenly I was at complete ease. Even though I had never met these people, they were friends with the people who was part of my life as I was growing up. In a weird, roundabout way, they were practically already family. I was able to chat easily and comfortably after that. And in a HUGE effort to make a good impression, I even forced myself to remain engaged and responsive when his dad decided to take a rabbit trail onto a political soapbox.
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