Adventures with In-laws-in-law

Italian: My First Wife's heritage.
Columbus, Georgia: My First Wife's hometown
Uncle Lynn and Aunt Melba: My First Wife's brother and his wife, who live in Columbus
Amarillo, TX: where our daughter lives
Pampa, TX: where Missy lives
Amy: our daughter
Missy: Amy's classmate

The phone rang at our house a few nights ago. My First Wife was back in the office and answered it. A minute later I heard a happy scream. Must be good news, I thought. Then I heard it again. And again. Wha…?

That phone call went pretty much like this.

"Mom, guess what! Well, I met this girl tonight in that class I'm taking. We were sitting next to each other and talking and pretty soon she told me I had a nice skin tone.

"I told her it was probably from my Italian side. I told her that you're Italian.

"So this girl said she had Italian relatives, too.

"I told her what your maiden name is.

"And she said she had relatives with that last name, too. Can you believe that?"

"Oh! You're kidding!" My First Wife said.

"No, I'm not!" Amy went on, "So I asked her where they lived.

"She said they lived in Columbus, Georgia!"

"Aaa! You're kidding!" My First Wife screamed.

"No, I'm not," Amy raced on. "So I asked her, 'Well, what's their name?' "

"Lynn and Melba."

"You're kidding!" My First Wife screamed happily.

"That's what I said!" Amy said. "I said, 'That's my aunt and uncle! Uncle Lynn is my mom's brother!'

"She said, 'No way! Well, Aunt Melba is my dad's sister!' "

"Oh my goodness. You're kidding!" My First Wife screamed happily.

"This girl's name is Missy [---]."

"You're kidding!" My First Wife screamed happily. "I remember Missy!"

"Mom, you should have seen us. We were screaming and hugging and jumping up and down and everything. Can you believe we met each other in the middle of the Texas Panhandle?"


The next night, Amy called again. "We call ourselves cousins-in-law," she said proudly. And Missy leaned into the phone, and with a twinkle in her voice, said, "Hi, Aunt Chancie."