I also wanted to appreciate my father in law, who died this week, and is causing me to gush like this I think.

I didn't spend a lot of time with him. He liked to imply that I was alcoholic, because when we'd visit I'd always have a couple beers (and sometimes more), and he knew my family's history. He also thought I was a drug dealer, because I worked from home and made a lot of money, and at the time, smoked a lot of weed. I didn't mind though. It was par for the course.

My favorite thing about my father in law was how much he loved his family, and I don't mean he said it a lot. I mean that he viewed his family as his life's greatest achievement. He worshiped it like one of those old movies where a man drinks a love potion. Anytime we'd visit, he'd start hunting through their digital photos, reminiscing about everything they'd done together. I've never met a father who was so proud, so transfixed, and eager to indulge in the wholeness of his family.