My Third Daughter

As a father of two daughters, I never really expected to have a daughter-in-law. But hey, this is the 21st century.

Next Sunday Allyson and Ellen will be celebrating the first anniversary of their wedding, held on a spectacular mountaintop in Massachusetts. Both wore stunning wedding gowns.

It wasn't like I didn't know what to expect from Allyson as a daughter-in-law when she and Ellen got married, they had already been together for seven years since meeting at Grinnell College in Iowa.

So I knew she would be sweet, kind, intelligent and fun. And best of all, when she and Ellen were together, Ellen was at her happiest. That's more important to me than anything.

She and Ellen are making a nice life for themselves in Somerville, which is just outside Boston. Allyson, who has lived, taught, or gone to school on four continents, is a study abroad advisor at Brandeis while Ellen is an advocate for immigrants in Boston. If the housing market would just become a little more rational, they would happily settle in the Boston area.

This week Allyson is being called upon to step up to the plate as a full-fledged member of our family. While Emily tries to keep her psychotherapy practice going, Ellen reports back to work and Janice takes a few days off from care-giving and tries to catch up on her school work, Allyson is taking a week of her vacation to take care of me. Somehow it seems less likely a son-in-law would do that.

It will be chance for us to do crossword puzzles, take walks and eat meals together. It's hard to say I'm looking forward to much of anything these days, but there's no doubt that my third daughter is helping to smooth the way.