Monnya and Isaac

Yesterday I got the good news that my daughter Monnya and her boyfriend of 6 years, Issac, are getting married in August. They live together in a house they bought in Evergreen. They consider themselves common law married and even have wedding rings tatooed on their ring fingers. I am excited that they are planning a wedding.
When Isaac first came into the picture I wasn't exactly thrilled. She was 17 and he was 26. He is the older brother of one of her best friends and he had been on the periphery of her life since she was about 9. One day she saw him in a new light. When she communicated that to him he was thrilled and they began to date. They were inseparable in a very short while. Isaac and Monnya have had many great adventures.Their first was to go to Hawaii and camp on the beach for three months. When they returned I wanted Monnya to come live at home and Isaac to find his own place. Monnya was clear that either neither of them would live with me or both of them would. We had a meeting for all of us to speak the truth from our hearts and came out of it deciding that the three of us would live together for the next two weeks and see how things were working out with the possibility of extending the time to four months.
At the time Issac had a seasonal job and would return to work in four months. Then they would get their own place. It was a very challenging time. Except for living with Monnya, I had lived alone for ten years. We both compromised to make things work and we both had to work at it.for instance, isaac loves musci and playing it loudly felt very healing to him. I value quiet and he was willing to play music very quietly in his room or when I wasn't there. Sometimes I resented not having the house to myself. He was willing to go do something else if I got up my couage to ask for what I wanted. It is difficult for me to relax when I have people in my house. I am most relaxed when I am alone and I value my privacy. I'd say I did a medium job of being welcoming to Issac. I was genuinely glad to have them living with me. I wasn't ready for Monnya to move out. I saw it as an opportunity to get to know Issac better because by then I had realized how committed they were to each other. Both of them have parents who divorsed when they were young. From the beginning, each of them was clear that they wanted to be in a life long relationship with each other and that they would work things out to get there. At first I thought,"Yeah, right,nice ideal." As time has gone on, however, I have been inspired by their steadfastness and it has helped me not to bolt in my own realtionship with Gary. It is sweet to be with them. They can go at each other at times and there is this underlying sense of acceptance of their differences even if they are annoying.
Issac and I emerged from those four months with a lot of respect for each other. We butted heads and learned to agree to disagree. Monnya was very happy that Issac and I were growing closer and using each other to grow. None the less, he and I were both relieved when they moved out.
I love Isaac as a son, now. I never had a male child and now I have one.I am grateful to him for adoring Monnya and for supporting her in expressing her many art forms. He is an incredibly hardworking person and I appreciate his dedication to his job. Several years ago he found his passion and became a soccer coach for teenaged boys. It is so heartwarming to hear him talk about his team. He is very caring and very firm and his teams have done really well. Both Monnya and Isaac coach from the heart. They appreciate their coachees and use positive reinforcement to motivate, rather than fear or criticism. The result is that their kids are very devoted to them.Issac has helped Monnya perfect her snowboarding skills and they love to go on runs I would run from.She is good for him because she pushes him to grow and to talk better care of himself. His love for her is her anchor from which she can spread her wings and fly. And fly she does.
I am very happy that they have each other. It feels so good that my daughter has found such a good person for her partner. I look forward to the wedding plans and am resolved to keep my opinions to myself unless I am asked. Easier said than done.
Is there a relatiionship in your life that has been hard work and is now rewarding? Is there a relationship in your life that is worth the hard work it'll take for it to become rewarding eventually?