The first time I met my father in law
I met Dave in Louisville for about a grand total of 2 minutes. Christy and I were heading to our respective homes for Break (I’m assuming it was Fall Break. I could be wrong). When Dave picked up Christy in Louisville, he said, “You must be Matt.” He stuck his hand out to shake mine. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” And that was about it. Christy and Dave hopped in his car and they hit the road towards Indy. I drove to Evansville.
The next time I met him was much more memorable. It was this weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) in 1996. I drove up to Indianapolis to meet Christy’s family for the first time. I’ll never forget walking up to the door at the Ooley house. Christy met me at the door and I had a sudden fear wash over me. Dave was shouting something to someone else in the house. I quickly learned that Dave merely had a loud voice. But meeting my girlfriend’s dad for the first time? I was already thinking of someone like this:
Let’s just say that I was a little bit intimidated. I guess it showed because Christy asked me what was wrong as she let me in the kitchen door. Of course, I couldn’t say “I’m suddenly scared of your dad. He doesn’t have a gun, does he?” So I told her I was OK and ready to meet her family. Especially her dad.
Dave was watching the IU preseason NIT game. That was a good thing. I had the opportunity to bond with him quickly if I sat down with him and started cheering for the Hoosiers with him. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. IU was playing Evansville. And it was a close game. As a lifelong fan of the Aces, they are the only team that I will cheer for against Indiana. So here comes this punk kid who has been kissing his daughter. He walks into Dave’s living room and starts cheering against the team that he’s cheering for. I guess you could say that I ran the risk of starting off on the wrong foot with him.
I did apologize to him for not cheering for the Hoosiers. I explained to him that this is the only time I ever even consider cheering for a team against the Hoosiers. He seemed to understand. And although he didn’t sit and watch the rest of the game with me, I don’t think he held it against me. That’s a good thing. Because I was kinda head over heels about his daughter. Shortly thereafter, Dave became a good friend. I couldn’t have asked for a better father in law.
I’ve thought about that first meeting quite a bit since June. I still have the urge to call him whenever IU has a basketball game, just to remind him that it’s on. And as I’m sitting in his house in a post-Thanksgiving dinner stupor, I can still hear his voice echoing through the halls.
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