A Belated Mother's Day Offering

I am only mediocre when it comes to being a good person. I don't think I'm a bad person, and I think I've never done anything particularly terrible, but since even sociopaths feel that way I know that's no compass for moral values. My wife, on the other hand, is an amazingly good person. How she manages to see through the frustration and temptations of life on a day-to-day basis I find unfathomable. She knows she's not perfect, which I am constantly forgetting, and still manages to see the best in others, despite the pell-mell pace of our lives and the concerted efforts of fools to find her last nerve.

That doesn't mean she fails to spot the fools; she just manages to view them as human despite their (sometimes considerable) flaws, while I tend to write them off and continue my blissful and fruitless search for moral fortitude in the modern world. And I know that she would credit much of her world view to her upbringing, in particular to her mother.

I have to agree with her. My mother-in-law is one of the most nurturing, kind-hearted people I know. She has a bedrock of morals that amazes me, and I'm rather too jaded to be easily amazed (okay, 'cynical' is more appropriate, since I'm not nearly experienced enough to call myself jaded). I know it's my duty as son-in-law to hate her, and while I might have been inclined to skip it just because I'm contrary, I didn't need to.

I know I'm incredibly lucky to have fooled my wife into marrying me, and just as lucky to have a mother-in-law I love and who I believe loves me in spite of myself. I suspect I'll not live up to the love and devotion of either of them, but they inspire me to be the person they see in me.