Pet on Parade

Many of you know that Eldon and I have known each other since we were 14 years old. Prior to getting married at age 23, you would think I would have met more of his family. This was not the case. He held his family gems close to his vest. My family, however, would set a place for him at the dinner table during those “friend” years. He was a regular at our family parties all through high school. When the phone rang they’d yell for Mindy to get it, it’s probably Eldon.

I was never aware of this disparity until it came to time to “meet the family” a couple days before we were to be engaged. It was the adults only dinner mom has every year. I found myself nervous. Nervous of the unknown because I was about to be thoroughly examined. If I were a horse, I was about to get my teeth looked at. When I was trying to explain my shocking feeling to Eldon I described it as feeling like a “Pet on a Parade”. (This was a show on channel 5 where they would show an orphaned pet from every angle in hopes someone would adopt it.)

Here was the cast of characters and the topics covered in the evening. We heard about how Bo Gritz should be president, the horrors of gun control, the blessing of home schooling. We heard about unusual hair styles and piercings of progeny and their friends. We heard about how out of 7 children only 1 was retarded, “Was it me?” We all know the story but this was the first out of 130 times I had heard it and it was very charming.

What this family may not or did not know about me is….. I LOVE eccentric personalities. I love that my neighbor has stuffed legs stuck in the front yard. (Glenn you liked them too - admit it) I love that one of my friends has never shaved her legs, I love that another one of my friends has never NOT shaved her legs. I love the extreme, the people full of character with "snappers" (as Jack Thomas would say).

I left the table in love. Not just with Eldon, but the cast of characters he had hidden away all those years. I was ready to tie myself for eternity with this crazy group. Now that I look back at that evening, I’m not sure who exactly was the pet on parade, them or me.