When you unofficially become a part of the family...

MY SISTER-IN-LAW HAS A VERY BUSY LIFE, and I have a very busy life, but a couple of weeks ago she called me and said, “We need to have a girl’s lunch. I really need to talk with you.” That made me feel so good, even though it’s no big deal. It was an hour out of our lives. It was the idea that she wanted to take time to talk with me. It’s the little things that really make a difference.
—SHELLEY
DES MOINES, IOWA
YEARS WITH IN-LAWS: 8

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MY WIFE’S FAMILY HAS a lot of holiday traditions, and one of the most important to them is the reading of a special prayer right before Christmas dinner. For the first three years I was there, it was always read by my father-in-law. The next year he died. That Christmas, my mother-in-law asked me to do the reading. I knew then that I was a member in good standing.
—CARL PALONE
BOARDMAN, OHIO
YEARS WITH IN-LAWS: 25

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MY SISTER-IN-LAW IS AN E-MAIL FREAK. She never calls anyone, but she sends out e-mails like crazy. For the first two years we were married, my husband had to forward her e-mails to me because I wasn’t good enough to be on her special “buddy” list. But then one day I started getting all the e-mails, too. For whatever reason, she started to include me in her correspondence, and it was then that I knew she finally considered me part of the family.
—CHARLOTTE KUBALY
POLAND, OHIO
YEARS WITH IN-LAWS: 13

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ALL OF THE MEN IN MY WIFE’S FAMILY are the outdoorsy types. They all hunt and fish and hike and climb. I do none of that. When I was first involved with my wife, it didn’t really bother me that they didn’t invite me to do that stuff. After a while, I thought they should at least ask me, just to be nice. At one point, her brother told me that even though I don’t hunt, they all thought it would be nice for me to come along just so we could spend some time together. That’s when I knew.
—TIM SCHADE
UNITY, OHIO
YEARS WITH IN-LAWS: 22