Russell and Mary

“So, my sister-in-law, Mary, is moving into your ward this month,” my friend Priscilla told me as she she combed out and cut my hair. I'd been going to her house to get my hair fixed for the past couple of years, and I always had fun visiting with her while she worked.

“Really?” I said, my mind racing.

I'd met Mary briefly the month before, and knew how cute she was. Tall, pretty, with long dark hair, she looked perfect for my son, Russell. It had been three or four years since his ex-wife left him, and I was always on the look-out for his Miss Right.

A few weeks later I took some cinnamon rolls over to Mary's new apartment to welcome her into our ward, and was further impressed. Her two children, Brayden and Brooklyn, were adorable, and very well behaved. Her apartment was immaculate, and she was delightful. I really needed to find a way to introduce her to Russell.

“I have someone for you to meet,” I told him over the phone later that evening.

Russell probably rolled his eyes, but he didn't tell me “No way!” so I started to plan. I needed to come up with some way for them to meet each other without feeling pressured.

“I got an idea,” I told Russell a couple of weeks later. “I needed an assistant Relief Society Secretary to make our weekly bulletin, so I to asked Mary to help me. She doesn't have a computer or printer, but we've still got a couple of the old ones you built for us, so I was thinking I'd give one of them to her. Only, I'll need you to drive up from the Valley and set it up for her, OK? Then you can meet her without any strings attached, and who knows? Maybe you two will hit of off.”

“Mom,” Russell groaned, but he agreed to come visit that weekend and set up Mary's computer.

On Saturday I took Russell and the computer over to Mary's apartment and introduced them to each other. Russell went to work setting up the computer, and I visited with Mary for a few minutes.

“I need to run pick up my kids from their cousins,” she apologized after about fifteen minutes.

“Don't worry,” Russell told her. “This is going to take a couple of hours, so if it's OK with you, I'll just keep on working.”

“Sure,” Mary told him. “I'll be right back.”

“No problem,” Russell said.

“If you don't need me, I'll go home and see how the girls are doing,” I said. There was no reason for me to hang around. “But call me if you need me to get anything for you.”

I went back to our house, and waited and wondered. An hour passed, then two.

“This is good,” I hoped.

Russell finally came back about four hours later, bringing Mary and her kids with him.

“I invited Mary to have dinner with us tonight,” Russell told me as they walked in the door.

Cool!

We had fun that night, getting to know Mary and her kids. Brooklyn and Brayden were adorable, and the girls had a ball playing with them. Me, I just couldn't stop grinning.

Russell had to go back to the Valley the next day, but he kept me up to date with phone calls, and he came back the next weekend, and the next, and the next.

“Thank you, mom,” he told me a couple of weeks later. “I thought you were crazy when you first set me up with Mary, but I'm so glad you did.”

So was I.