Falling in love with my daughter in law

Erik and Leyna have been living here in Corvallis since last spring. They were married just over two years ago and were together most of the ten years before that. I always knew that she was good for Erik. Leyna grounds him, she incites him to be his very best. Erik grew into a man because of her, for her.

Once in a while someone would ask me, "do you like Leyna?" I always wondered what kind of question is that? My son loves her, of course I like her. On occasion Erik's dad or one of his friends would insinuate that Leyna maybe had too much power in their relationship or that he tried too hard to please her (just as a sidenote-none of these people are in relationships). And I would just say, "she's good for him."  

But honestly, until a few months ago, I didn't feel like I knew her very well. That was okay because Erik was better for being with her. But I didn't quite see what he saw in her. He is my deep thinking, spiritual child, I didn't quite see that in her.

Three months ago Leyna opened an acupuncture clinic. I became a patient and helped her out with reception when she needed someone. As things started slow, I had lots of time to talk with her. Thus began my love affair with my daughter in law.

Leyna is smart and compassionate, she is honest and open. She opened her clinic so she could provide affordable acupuncture to the middle and lower class people of our town. She is so excited about treating people and getting results, that making a living seems like only a nice side effect of the whole thing.

I've had deep conversations with her and she is a wonderful listener. We talked about someone who was causing some upheaval in our group of family and friends. Over time we realized together that this person is just unhappy and needs to be loved; that we could reach out to her in our own ways and show her that there is another way to be. It felt so good to be able to talk about something that I had unpleasant feelings about and to work it through to a helpful conclusion.

We can talk about anything, even though we don't always agree. I trust her with my confidences and feel accepted and cared for.

I no longer wonder why Erik has worked so hard to be with her or why he is so much more grounded with her than alone. And she has shared much with me about how she feels about him and what he means to her. I now realize that she is better with him and he grounds her as well.

I mentioned this to Erik recently and his comment was, "I tried to tell that to everyone a long time ago, and then I realized that you would all figure it out for yourselves."

I guess I did.