The Beatles "One After 909"

It was only a brief interaction, 10 seconds maybe, but it reminded me that we were members of a pretty special club.  Two clubs, actually.

Holidays with your In-Laws is a strange experience.

Don't get me wrong, I married into a great family.  My wife's mother is ridiculously generous and amazingly loving.  My wife's brother James is a cool guy and a kindred spirit---he and I always know what to get each other for Christmas because we just think, "Hmm, what would I want for myself?"

But as much as you love your In-Laws, you are always a little bit on the outside.  Their family traditions are maybe a little different than your family traditions.  They tell stories about things that happened long before you were on the scene.  Theirs is a familial, blood bond that you are welcomed to come right up to, but can never fully be inside of.

Even before I was married, I knew that this was they way of the world.  I just happened to luck into a family that I can truly love.  (I know plenty of friends who did not marry so lucky).

What never occurred to me is how many people would be in the same boat as me.  And I don't mean in the world.  I mean, in the same room at holidays.  I mean the other folks who've married into the same family that I did.

There's a special bond I have with the folks who have also married into my wife's family.


And I've loved the little moments I've had with James' Linda, like this vignette from our Christmas gathering.

Near the end of the evening, I saw the number "910" on the breast pocket area of her t-shirt.

"What's 910?" I asked.

"It's the one after 909," she said, and showed the same words printed on the back of the shirt.

"Where'd you get that?!"

"I made it.  Cafe Press."

"'Let It Be.'  Cool."

"You got it.  No one ever gets it," she beamed.

When you're in a small club, be it serious Beatles fans or just one small family, you live for these moments of connection.

I get it.  I definitely get it.


Hear the song on Youtube.