This will be our first Easter together as husband and wife, it has been a fun task to figure out where we are going, when and so on. I believe we had done a great job balancing time with all the people we love.

Last Easter, my Mom and I went to spend the day with Sarah’s family in Iowa. It was great day! In addition to meeting all of Sarah’s additional relatives, I was on a mission. I wanted to talk to Rodney (Sarah’s dad) about me courting his daughter.

After eating lots of delicious food, most of it from Sarah’s mom (who was super sweet about accommodating my dietary restrictions) Rodney and I went down to his office. We started talking about an idea he had about making a website for his business, then we talked about a classic show car he had owned, then about remote control planes, computers… furniture making… you name it. I knew I had to ask Rodney for his permission, but it can be scary so I kept avoiding the talk. I grabbed courage from the fact that I love Sarah so much, I wanted to do things right from the beginning. So as Rodney and I were walking out of his office I stopped him and we had one last conversation that went something like this:

Me: Rodney, one more thing

Rodney: Yeah?

Me: I wanted to tell you that I really like your daughter and I care a lot about her

Rodney: (silent)

Me: I have never felt like this before. Nothing makes me happier than seen her smile, I want to take care of her and make her smile. I want to date your daughter and I would like to know if that would be ok with you.

At this point things became a bit blurry as I have this man built like a wrestler silently looking at me from almost 6ft 6inches high.

Rodney: I know it can be lonely in the cities and you have been a good friend to Sarah.

Me: I want you to know that I want to make Sarah happy and I am counting on you to help me if I stray away from that path.

Rodney: You bet I will…

As we walked out of the room, I was extremely relieved I had told Rodney my intentions towards his daughter. I cant remember exactly the second part of the conversation, but I  assumed Rodney was ok with me courting his daughter.

Also it took me about a year but I finally finished Rodney’s site reickswoodworking.com

Why was it so important fro me to talk to Rodney? Well I was raised that way… But it also made sense to me. I wanted not only get Rodney’s approval to date his daughter, but to let him know that I am open to his input and advise in the future of our relationship. I respect him, he is a wise and loving man. I love my in-laws, they are whom I want to model our marriage after, I enjoy the time we spend with them and the silent wisdom they spread.