I’ll take it as a good sign.

That within the first thirty minutes of meeting my in-laws-to-be, we are all hooting and smiling as we zip down waterslides at the hotel pool.

Jeb, of course, was in the lead.

They had to be jet-lagged from their 30 hour journey. One suitcase still missing. First time in the tropics. Meeting Jeb and I for the first time. No shared language between us.

But there was no hesitation, even though the sun was setting and we all had goosebumps on our skin. Two, three, four times down the bright, blue, hotel water chute. Big splashes and smiles.

Words can meet the wet air but have nowhere to land. I don’t speak Czech, they don’t speak English.

No, the mind cannot buffer this sharing. We can only just slide on in. Dip down up to our necks in shallow water, droplets falling from our hair on grinning teeth. Shiver just a little under sunset clouds.

Their willingness warming my heart.