The big sit down with Awesome

In covering the inclement weather version of CAL's high school graduation, I neglected to mention that Awesome arrived earlier in the week with Our Lady of BYU.  As I was driving by ORD on my way home when they landed, it only made sense that I would pick them up. Pacing through baggage claim, I awaited their arrival.  I realized that shortly I would be evicted from Denial Land where I've been living since learning about Awesome.  I got a text from Our Lady saying, "Wheels down" (she is nothing if not her father's daughter) and it wasn't long before they walked past the Curtain of Fascism, staffed by the ever-inept TSA, and I met Awesome.  I knew from the second I saw the way Our Lady looked at him that this thing was a done deal.  A short time later, and by short, I mean nearly an hour because Mother United took nearly AN HOUR (the ineptitude of the baggage delivery at ORD is epic and worthy of another post, but I digress) to get their checked bags onto the belt and delivered, I watched Awesome out the corner of my eye as he watched my first-born walk away to throw something away.  The same thought went through my mind, 'Oh man, he's in love with her,' and that made me smile.  Then I thought it again, and it nearly made me cry.

It made me think of one of the last scenes in the movie "Moonstruck."  Say what you will about Cher (and believe me, there's plenty to say) and the crazy that is Nicholas Cage, that movie was an excellent chick flick.  Well-acted, sharp writing, and it made you feel good.  In the last few moments of the movie, Cher's character is asked by her mother, "Do you love him, Loretta?"  To which she says, "Yeah, ma.  I love him awful."  And the mother retorts, "That's too bad."  It's an awesome scene.  Makes me laugh every time I see it.  I looked at Awesome and Our Lady and knew they loved each other something awful.  The good news is that I didn't feel compelled to blurt out, "That's too bad."  Rather, I felt compelled to say, "Yeah, this is good."  But I didn't.

The day after the high school graduation shenanigans were over, it was apparent that Awesome was ready to have the big sit down discussion.  With me.  Of course, the discussion I refer to is the one that makes potential in-laws, both father and son, more than a little nervous.  It's safe to say that he and I were nervous as he pulled a chair up to my desk in my home office.  While I'm not going to provide a blow-by-blow recount, I can tell you that this young man has his head on right and has been raised well.  He's a reflection of good parents and family.  He's going to take care of my daughter.  There's a bit of a leap of faith involved in an event like this.  You do your best to make sure the questions you have for the young man who wants to marry your daughter will make that leap easier.  So, for Awesome and me, there was laughter (both of us), some man-tears (me), and a collective sigh of relief (both of us) after I said yes to his request for permission to marry my daughter.  You could see the burden lifted from his shoulders at the conclusion of our talk.  I have to give him props as well.  He promptly went upstairs and told Our Lady that I'd said they needed to wait a bit longer before I would say yes.  This bit of information was not well-received.  Nice prank, Awesome.  Well-done.

So, yes, Awesome is awesome. As we told Our Lady, he's a keeper.  Life's about to get a whole lot more interesting here in the Den.