Funny Guy Friday... The boyfriend...

     Funny Guy Friday is written by my husband Mark. So, I married a funny guy... who happens to reeaallly love our daughter Grace...
     Well, it happened. The day I had been dreading for the last eighteen years.  It happened... and it was awful. I hated it!
     Grace called us from college about a week ago and wanted to come home for a day or two.  This, in and of itself, seemed odd because she likes college, and it seems to me that she only comes home when she has to... or if there's too much drama.
     When Cheryl mentioned that she was going to go pick up Grace, I immediately asked... What's wrong?
     Nothing... she just wants to come home.
     Why?
     Well it's Valentine's Day... and maybe she just wants to escape the drama.
     This was good news... for me!
     I had heard rumors that she was dating a young man, but I had never gotten any solid verification of such a relationship.
     In fact, just the opposite.
     Over Christmas break, Grace had been home for four weeks, and I never saw the so-called boyfriend around the house... despite the fact that he allegedly traveled right through Maryland on his way from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Additionally, I never saw Grace actually talking... in a real conversation... with words and such... to this guy during that entire Christmas break. Admittedly, there was quite a bit of texting, but who uses texts as the sole mode of communication these days? And she could have been texting anyone. And she never asked to head off to his hometown to see him.
     After the break, when I drove Grace back to school, she refused to let him know that I was there, so I never saw the guy. I had begun to think that he was made up! Cheryl claimed to have met him, but as far as I could tell... she was just covering up for our poor, pitiful, imaginative daughter.
     At this point, I started calling him Remington Steele.
     A few days later, our little Laura Holt... er... um... I mean... Gracie... upped her little ruse by changing her facebook status to read... "In a Relationship."
     Can I digress for a minute? Do we really need to let seven hundred of our facebook "friends" know when or if we are dating someone? Do people actually troll facebook for dates and cross off those "friends" who have declared themselves to be "in a relationship?"  Just another stupid social media thing that I don't understand!             
     So, why did I say Grace's visit home during Valentine's Day was good for me? Because she was finally throwing in the towel on the make-believe boyfriend and coming home to see me... the one and only true love in her life.
     I mentioned all of this to Cheryl, who then pointed out that Grace was bringing ol' Remington home with her.
     Who?
     Brian, the boyfriend!
     Who?
     Brian, the boy she is dating.
     So, he is for real?
     Yes. She told you. Cheryl tells me I never listen.
     I tried to cover: Right. Where, did you say, he is coming?
     Here... to our house... for the weekend.
     When?
     This weekend.  
     Is this for real? He is coming here? This weekend?  
     Yes, honey. Do you need to sit down?   
    
     So... this kid shows up at my house... and after meeting him for one weekend, here is my scouting report.
     Kind of quiet. I like that.
     Not totally into sports, but he does snowboard. That's a plus.
     As an aside, I should have known something was up when Grace wanted ski boots for Christmas. Grace never liked skiing when she was younger. In fact, several years ago, we bought her boots and skis for Christmas only to have her return them. Hmm... Remember who snowboards? Brian!
     Okay... back to my report... He was home-schooled. That's no guarantee. I've known too many home-schoolers.
     He is a Catholic who goes to church regularly. Big kudos from Cheryl!
     He pokes fun at Grace. Bigger kudos from Gracie's brothers.
     He is in the ROTC program at school, which explains why Gracie has requested that we wake her at 0-800 hours.
     He is an EMT and can differentiate between the sound of a police siren and an ambulance siren. Not really sure what to make of that special skill, but it is nice to know if I keel over from a heart attack, somebody will know what to do.
     Although politics never came up, I am told he is politically conservative. I will reserve passing judgment on this topic until we discuss Ronald Reagan.    
     But, at least, for now... he's alright. I did not hate him like I should hate the boy my daughter brings home from college. I hate the thought of him, but personally... he's okay.
     I'll give him a B-... which is a pretty impressive grade because I fully expected him to fail... miserably!
     To be fair to the poor kid, in order to get an A, Brian would have had to be a Catholic, conservative Derek Jeter... so he should be feeling pretty good about my grade.
     And you know what... if he has the right opinion of the Reagan presidency, he could even move up to a solid B.