My Brother-In-Law

    Dean was coming to Minnesota to spend some time visiting. He had several stops that he wanted to make and also was going to make a pilgrimage to the Boundary Waters, the Gunflint Trail and other places along the North Shore in Minnesota. We hoped that maybe we would get to spend some time with him.
   We got the call a couple of days ago. He was going to jam in Mankato (he's a musician like C) and then was going to come up for a visit. He would be spending one night. He would get to our house around 4 o'clock. We had already made plans to go to the Arboretum, but decided that we could get home soon enough to get a bed set up in the basement, do a little cleaning and get the lawn mowed.
  We had a good time walking around the Arboretum, but our timing was off and we had to run an errand which got us home shortly after four. Dean was waiting on our deck. He was taking the strings off a guitar he got. The two dogs he was travelling with were roaming around the yard. I felt bad that he had to wait, but clearly he didn't mind.
  That is so like Dean. He and C met several years ago before we were married. He and his wife Sarah are close friends of ours. We've been very supportive of each other for the last 13 years. We don't get to see each other as often as we would like as they live in North Carolina and we live in Minnesota. When we do see each other it's like we saw each other yesterday. C and Dean are close enough to the point that they call each other brother. This means a lot to me as C doesn't have any living brothers. (His brother died in a car wreck sometime in the 1970s.) as a result, I think of and call Dean my brother-in-law.
  We visited awhile with Dean on the deck and then went to work. C cut the grass and I did some dishes. I fed the cats. Once he was done we went out for a pizza. We had a good time talking. Every time Dean comes to visit I learn something new about him. This time I learned that he lived in California. I also learned that he studied karate while living in Minnesota. I had trouble imagining Dean, who is happiest out in the wilderness camping with his dogs (and his wife) being a California boy.
  Once we got home I got a bed ready for him. We cleaned the room a bit and also the bathroom. Dean, of course, protested. He was happy to sleep in the truck with the dogs. I wasn't about to let him do that. It was fine while he was out camping, but in my house he would have a proper bed.
  Once that chore was done we went outside to visit on the deck. In the time it took for us to clean that room he had restrung the six string he was working on when we had arrived at home. I was amazed. He acted like it was no big deal.
  We talked a bit outside. Then the bugs got too bad so we came inside. The guys did most of the talking and I knitted. I had a good time listening and chiming in now and again. We are all early risers so we went to bed about nine thirty.
  The next morning I got up and went out into the living room to see of Dean was up. He wasn't. I got cleaned up and started to feed the cats. He was out on the deck with his guitar and the dogs. I made some tea and brought it out to him. We had a good time talking and drinking tea (herbal of course). He told me about people he knew who he had visited. He talked about Sarah and her love of sports. He talked about the dogs. He talked about people he had adopted or who had adopted him.  I sat and listened and put in a word now and then. I had a good time.
  Then C got up. We spent some more time visiting. We were planning on making breakfast for the three of us, but Dean declined. We was going to drive to Red Wing to go to church and see more friends. Then he was going to go back up to see his Dad.
  We walked him out to his truck. He loaded the dogs into the back, gave us each a hug and drove off.
   Sometimes we are born into families where our siblings are our closest friends. Sometimes our family is made from our closest friends. I am very glad to have Dean as my brother in law.