To The First Time My Husband Met My Mother

[Thanks so much for reading! This letter marks one year. I will keep writing, but less frequently. Please stay tuned!]

We weren’t dating yet. Just friends. He had somehow gotten past my loud remarks in every class and sometimes, we’d go to lunch before class at the Greek diner. Turkey burgers and milkshakes.

And my mom was coming to visit. A long weekend. I had no idea what we would do. West Lafayette, Indiana is smaller than you’d imagine, if you even thought to try to imagine it. I loved my tiny house and my roommate. My professors. The work I was doing. But you can’t tour that. I had no idea how we would fill up the days.

She comes to campus with me in the morning and I’ve got a class. We are walking to the union and agree to meet up later, and she will join me for the class I teach: Intro to Creative Writing. I walk one way and she walks another. She’ll grab some coffee. People watch.

Keith has seen us talking and knows it must be my mom. When I take leave of her, he waits a bit and then approaches her and gets her attention.

“Te? Te Byrne?”

She recognizes her name, of course, but not this guy. Beard. Pony tail.

Given the rarity of her name, she must know him.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”

He keeps it up for a few more seconds and then, he tells her. He saw us. He’s a friend of mine. Just wanted to say hi.

She tells me about it later. He’s so funny. She was trying to figure it out. Who could this be? She was laughing.

We wouldn't start dating for another year. But it starts so small. The way he loves a word. The way he is always up for a hike. The way he made my mom laugh so that, whatever we did the rest of the weekend, she was already having a good time.