People I Like and Why - FDG

Today is the first of what I intend to be an ongoing feature here. To kick it off, let me tell you about FDG.

FDG is my nephew-in-law. Not sure if that is an official term, but as the guy who is married to my niece, it seems to fit. I read somewhere that once someone is your in-law, s/he is always your in-law. And, in this case, that's a nice thing to know.

FDG's name does not actually have and F in it. And we'll leave his last name out for now, so let's just call him David G. Then, why FDG? Here's the story...

Several years ago, at a big family gathering - perhaps it was something to do with Christmas, FDG (at the time, simply DG) was just being himself. His unpretentious, pleasant, helpful and amusing self. David, much like Sara Lee, is one of those guys that nobody doesn't like. In fact, the more I think about it, it was Christmas Eve at my brother's home, and I am pretty sure it was just before David married my brother's daughter, aka my niece. Said niece was already the proud mommy of a beautiful daughter. After she and David went on to get married, together they became the parents of four more adorable kids. But on that particular Christmas Eve, David had just recently graduated from Notre Dame and was at the beginning of what has evolved into a significantly successful career. No surprise there. As I said, he's easy to like.

Later that evening, I was back home with my nuclear family group, and we were all talking about the goings-on of the evening. I must have asked my (equally lovable) son-in-law if he would grab me a beverage. He responded, with just the right touch of playful rivalry, "Well, if F***ing David G. was here, I'm sure he'd jump up and get you a drink." That brought out a barrage of "F***ing David G" commentary and voila! A nickname was born.

Now admittedly, most people would not find a moniker like "F***ing" anything all too complimentary. However, in our family, irreverence is a badge of honor, so the appellation stuck. From then on, that's how my daughters, son-in-laws and I ironically referred to FDG. One day, when FDG's wife's sister was visiting, we brought her in on the joke; she, of course, loved it. So much so, and what I didn't know at the time, that she subsequently shared the hilarity with her sister, and ultimately, FDG.

Fast forward several years to another family wedding. By this time, all the aforementioned adorable children were reality; in fact, most of them were actively cutting the rug with the various grandmas, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. Dig the scene... lots of Macarena, Chicken Dance and White Man's overbite going on.... little kids jumping around, slightly older ones break-dancing, etc. I found myself next to David and while making small talk, commented on how much I liked the dress his little Sarah was wearing. David said, "Well, you must really like it because you also complimented Emma (Sarah's older sister) when she wore it to your grandson's Bris."

Of course, I said, "I do remember that, now that you mention it."

We continued to observe the scene some more, and then David leaned over and said with a knowing grin, "And, you know Aunt D, the fact that I remember such things is why they call me F***ing David G."

You got that right.