My Mother In-Law

My mother in-law was a wonderful, fun loving woman. Yeah, she could be a bit rough and gruff, but that was part of her Irish charm. This is my favorite picture of her. It was taken at our wedding, and even though we had open bar, she didn't trust that we would have what she wanted, so she brought along her bottle of Bailey's. She loved that stuff.

She was really looking forward to Thanksgiving - we were all headed down to her place for a good old time, and two of hers sisters were flying over for from Dublin for the holiday. They're still coming over, just for a much less joyful occasion.

She had a really tough life, growing up dirt poor in Ireland, moving here to start a new life and raising 5 kids on her own after a bad marriage. But she never stopped having fun and enjoying life, though she did like making sure everyone knew how good they had it thanks to her.

I'm really going to miss her. I'll never forget the 1st time I met her. Amber and I had been dating for a few months and Amber drove me down to meet her "Mamacita". I was a bit worried - I didn't know how she would respond to her daughter dating me, as she was straight off the boat from Ireland. But she never batted an eye, and loved me as if I were one of her own. We had good times, and I'll never, ever forget her. I just wish she held on until we gave her the little grandbabies she wanted us to make for her.