Son-in-law memories

The first two are before they were married!

1. They both worked at our church camp during the summer. The staff was cut off from the outside world for the entire week due to campers so one or two Saturdays a month, I would go down with my van and load up as many as wanted to go and take them into town. As the summer progressed, whenever we were loading up...Bart would call "shot-gun". Tracey would say "No...its my mom's van, I get shot-gun". So Bart would reply "Then I guess, you'll have to sit on my lap". Stephanie, Sarah and I all told Tracey that Bart liked her but she kept insisting they were just friends...but we knew it was more and soon she found out too!

2. The Engagement story. When Tracey was 8, we moved to Johnstown PA. In J-town, there is an Inclined Plane. This was built back when J-town was having all the floods they are famous for to help people get out of town and up to higher ground. It is now a visitor attraction. You can take your car on it or you can just ride it up and down the mountain. During the time we lived there, Tracey told her friend Ashley and me that the man that she was going to marry would ask her to marry her on top of the Inclined Plane. I told Bart this story one time but never thought anything more about it. The year they became engaged, Bart flew to Ohio to meet Tracey as we were there celebrating Christmas with Tracey's grandparents and Bart came to meet them and then return to Morrisville PA (where I lived at this time) for a visit until school resumed for them both. We drove back from Ohio to PA and stopped in J-town for the night so Bart could see where Tracey lived from the time she was 8-14. It was a very cold night and the snow accumulation was probably around 8-10 inches. But we took Bart to the Inclined Plane so he could see this place he had heard about. Bart tells me he is going to ask her to marry him there. We pull up and I say "I've seen this many times, you guys go ahead, I'll wait in the car and that way it will be warm when you return". They get out of the car. A couple of minutes later...they return and I look to Bart and he shrugs his shoulders. I ask Tracey why they are back and she states its too cold. I get angry with her and say "Get out of this car and take him on the Inclined Plane.". She looks at me like I've lost my mind and says "If I have to go, so do you.". So I get out of the car with them. The Inclined Plane car has two sections, one is open where cars can be put or people can stand and then a glassed in room with a bench. So I go into the room to let them outside so Bart can ask her. Well Tracey can't figure out why her mom is acting so weird so keeps following me from section to section. I finally tell her to leave me alone and go out with Bart. He asks her to take her glove off and she refuses because she is too cold. Eventually, he gets to ask her and after screaming, shoving him up against the wall (by mistake) she answers yes. What a night! She did forgive me for my attitude after she had the ring on her hand!

3. Shortly after they were married, I visited them in Waco. We were leaving their apartment and Bart thought it would be funny to "moon" Tracey. However, at the time he did it, she was looking down and I was looking out the window and said "Oh my goodness". Tracey looked up and couldn't believe he had done what he did. He on the other hand was quite proud of the fact that he "mooned" his mother-in-law!

4. I wanted a screen door put on my front door at the townhouse I am renting and ask Bart if he thinks he can put it up for me. He says he will try. We go buy the door and he has to spend a whole afternoon trying to get this door put up for me. I have to make sure you understand it wasn't because he couldn't do it, it was because the building had shifted over the years and my doorway was not even. He did get it installed. I am grateful that he gave up his afternoon to put this up for me every time I get to open the door and let the fresh air in! (My cats like it too!)