Meet the Family

by Nicholas Allen — August 30, 2007

Every year, my father, sister, and I go to the U.S. Open the Friday before Labor Day. It's one of those family traditions that have existed so long, it's hard to remember a time when we didn't do it. This year, I'm bringing Patricia with me. It'll be the first time she meets anybody in my family.

Deciding when to bring a girl home to meet the family is often one of those fraught-with-peril types of decisions. You don't want to make the move too quickly and run the risk of implying more serious intentions than you're ready to commit to. On the other hand, waiting too long can lead to your girl tearfully confronting you one day over why you're keeping her separated from the important people in your life. I've had a few of these conversations, and they usually strike me as being completely out of the blue--but then, I'm a guy, and we're notoriously stupid about these things.

The only person Patricia won't meet tomorrow is my mother. Like all good Jewish boys, I consider meeting my mother to be the ultimate step forward I take with a girlfriend (or potential girlfriend). I almost can't even call it officially meeting my family if my mother isn't thrown somewhere into that mix.

The truth is, though, that I would definitely let Patricia meet my mom, if the right opportunity came up. I'd let her meet anybody. I'm nuts about this girl, and things can't move forward quickly enough, as far as I'm concerned. It's not often that I feel this way, so it's kind of a rush now to realize that I do.

Of course, I haven't, um, actually had The Conversation with Patricia yet. You know what I mean--the big relationship conversation, where we make it official that neither of us is dating anybody else. So I guess that sort of has to be my next step, huh?

Nicholas Allen is a writer and columnist based in Manhattan. To read all of his blogs, click here.