Dear G & G Truman: "Happy Birthday and Stay Well!" Love, Lucy

My in-laws share back-to-back birthdays.
Seems fitting because they're such a twosome. A twosome that I haven't written nearly enough about on this blog. So let's go back, oh, ten years or so...

Wes and I didn't date before his mission, but I was lucky enough to cross paths with his parents a few times when we were freshmen. Like the late night when he opened his mission call (we'll address the hair at a later date)...

...the weekend of his farewell (I probably cried more during Phil and Lu's talks than anyone's. They were so awesome.)...and again at the airport when Wes left for Norway (Phil and Lu offered to buy all of us sniffling females breakfast. I remember being pointedly disappointed that we had to decline.)

After Norway, when Wes and I were all but officially engaged, he introduced me to his parents again. I read this journal entry tonight and it made me smile from ear to ear:

July 2002, I had a completely wonderful time with Wes in Las Vegas. His parents were so welcoming, his mom saying how excited she was, his dad asking if it was OK to bring up "the M-word."...I had fun running errands and talking with Wes's mom (she bought me a book - how cute is that?) and one afternoon she had me try on her wedding ring to get my size. "I don't know how to do this tactfully," she said, "so I'm not even going to try =)"...When it was time to leave I was surprised to feel sad, like I was saying goodbye to my own family."

After our official engagement, Wes and I visited soon-to-be Mom and Dad Truman again. I had forgotten to pack a Sunday dress. Lu loaned me some cute, red number with white polka-dots. That evening I sat next to her and Phil at a fireside where Wes's dynamic and beautiful sister, Suzy, was telling stories from her mission. After the meeting I was reeling a little bit, wondering how in the world I was ever going to fit in to such a remarkable family, when Phil put his arm snugly around my shoulders to introduce me to a neighbor. He gushed something really sincere about Wes and the family being lucky to have me, and if I hadn't been smiling and shaking hands I probably would have cried and cried in gratitude for his warmth and acceptance. That feeling of warmth and acceptance was just the beginning. Wish there was time to write the other things that are in my mind tonight, all the many, many, significant memories.

Suffice it to say that there couldn't be a luckier daughter-in-law. Or luckier grand-kids.

Happy Birthday Phil and Lu!! We love you!!!!!!!