He has a way.....

K does. He has a way...a way of fitting in, of making people like him, of just being *right* wherever he is. That happened last weekend. My brother celebrated a milestone birthday and we had a fairly sizable family gathering. K accompanied me. This was the first time meeting my entire family. Up until that evening he had briefly met my mom and of course he'd hung out with Bug on many occasions...he had never met either of my siblings, nieces, nephews, etc. This was somewhat of a big deal IMO. He wasn't worried in the least. We arrived and I immediately introduced him to everyone. Within *seconds* he was in the mix, chatting with the guys, with my niece (she hosted the evening at her house), everyone. Not once did I find him holed up in a corner with his arms folded or sitting on the couch watching TV...it was quite the departure from attending family gatherings with JD over the course of 12 years. At some point the guys were all sitting around the table doing shots of tequila ::shudder:: and got the bright idea to go outside and smoke cigars. K doesn't smoke cigars but he went along with his cigarettes and "bonded". My sister, both of my nieces, and one of my nephews came up and commented about how friendly and social he was. They asked if we planned to be together because they could see what a positive male role model he was for Bug and they knew Bug really needed that since he doesn't get much of it from JD. Wow... He sat outside with my brother and the guys until the wee hours of the morning and didn't come back in until my brother needed assistance getting through the door...a bottle of tequila will do that to you!

I realize that for most it's not a huge deal but like I said, after 12 years with a partner who was predominantly unsocial and somewhat cold to your family (never acted that way around his own family or anyone else), seeing the person you care about totally fitting in with everyone is awesome. He hugged me and thanked me for inviting him, he had really had a great time. My family truly welcomed him with open arms and he responded in kind. It was my pleasure...totally my pleasure.

Totally cool, Baby.