Future Son-in-law Test

    My daughter, having graduated from college and busy with her career, was dating a young man who lived in St. Mary’s County. We knew what was next.  We had been introduced to him several times, and he was a winner in our eyes.  He, though, did not know this.  So one wintry day towards the end of February, he came to visit.

    It had been a cold winter and the creek was frozen solid.  On arriving, he mentioned the ice on the creek.  We, in turn, talked about skating and the adventures of doing so.  I said that it was a shame that the ice eaters prevented us from reaching the ice because it was really thick this year.

    “Well, we could take a boat out to the ice and get on it,” my husband chimed in.

    “Or maybe go out from one of the longer piers,” I suggested.

    “Oh, I have not been skating for a while.  That would be great fun.  What do you think?”  my daughter turned to us and then to her boyfriend.

    “I am not much for skating, but if you think it’s safe,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

    I climbed into the attic and back of closets looking for the box of old skates.  Sure enough I found two that would fit both of them.  We grabbed a life jacket and rope and headed for the creek.  The sun shone strong on our face and as we neared the edge of the creek, I noticed that the tide was high.  The water lapped at the edge of the beach where the sun warmed the shallow water.  My daughter’s boyfriend slowed.

    “We’ll test the ice at the end of the pier, far from the ice eaters,”  I said, pointing and then grabbing a short pipe, for an ice tester.

    Water had come over the ice and around the shoreline.  We walked onto the pier and my daughter’s boyfriend took the pipe from me and leaned over the side.  Holding the pipe firmly in his hand, he whacked the ice.  The pole went through.

    “Oh, boy, this is not good!” he said scrambling to his feet.

    “Wait.  Check the thickness of the ice.  Look it must be a good six inches,” I said peering into the hole that he had made. 

    My husband came to look too.  “You’re right.  Look how thick it is.”

    “But there is water on top of it.”

    “We’ll take the dinghy out to where the ice is thick.”

    “Oh. let’s.  That will be perfect,” said my daughter.

    “How deep is the water there?” asked her boyfriend.

    “Five to seven feet depending on the tide.”

    “And it's high tide?”

    “Believe so.”

    My daughter’s boyfriend turned pale.  However, he walked with my husband to put the dinghy with its oars into the water as well as the life jacket and rope.  We climbed in and pushed the dinghy with the oars, hitting the bottom.  We drifted over the ice covered water and maneuvered the dinghy onto the thick ice in the center of the creek.

    “Who’s first?”

    My daughter’s boyfriend swung his legs over the side and with hands trembling and a backwards glance, he hoisted his body onto the ice, expecting to fall through.  He flattened himself, figuring that full body weight in one place would not be safe.  My daughter, laughing, joined him and skated circles around him.  I was next.  We skated, freely enjoying the quiet except for the swish of skates on ice. 

    Later, we laughed that unbeknownst to us, my daughter’s boyfriend, imagined that this was a test. He passed!