meeting mom

I told you that Dad got engaged to a woman
she said yes
but the next day
her father said no?

I think that I did...

He was about... 25 when his parents sold a small corner deli that they owned and moved to a new street
on that same street, right across from their new home
lived my Aunt J (mom's sister) and uncle J

every now and then
my mom would visit aunt and uncle J

every now and then
Dad would see my mom across the street

mom would smile (but NEVER wave)
It was the late 50's
early 60s

so you could just imagine that suburban street
my mom wearing (not a wig exactly) a sort of hair piece on her head
my Dad's hair slicked back
my mom's perfectly styled and hairsprayed

After a while my Dad called Uncle J
asked him about my Mom
Uncle J called my Mom and told her
he'd set up a blind date for her

It wasn't truly blind
she had smiled quite a few times at him
exchanged small talk on walks
my mom said yes

On the day of the date, my mother was very excited.
She'd be talking to Aunt E. on the phone when the doorbell rang.
She lived with her parents and Aunt M. with Aunt M's family as well.
My two cousins... then small boys... ran to answer the door.
When they opened the door and saw my dad
they screamed and ran away
my dad stood there, not knowing what to do
after a while he entered the house by himself

It didn't take long
3 months later they were engaged.
My mother's Uncle R wanted to meet my dad before he'd let my mother marry
Uncle R was a real Italian
everyone told my father how serious Uncle R's inspection would be
Uncle R wasn't so happy that my mom was going to marry a non Italian.
Uncle R lived in West Virginia
he made a special trip up to meet my dad
While dad was waiting for Uncle R to arrive at my Mom's house one weekend...
he was sweating
it seemed so serious to him

Uncle R arrived
and my Dad just started laughing
Uncle R was about 5 feet tall
with a big smile