DEAR ABBY: I feel sorry for "Keeping the Peace," who wrote in response to "Charlotte in North Carolina." Both women have mother-in-law problems. I would like to tell you my experience:
Like you, Abby, I love my mother-in-law. She knows that I didn't take her place in her son's eyes, and she never tries to come between us. In fact, my husband is an only child, and she refers to me as her daughter. We have received some strange looks when she introduces me as her daughter and then as her son's wife! To my mother-in-law's credit, even though she wants a grandchild badly and her son and I have been married five years, she is not pushing us.
My parents and my husband's parents get along so well that the six of us often do things together. It's not unusual for us to spend birthdays together, and no one has a problem sharing holidays.
I consider myself lucky, and I want others to know that not everyone has in-law problems. -- HAPPY IN-LAWS IN OKLAHOMA
DEAR ABBY: Of course they don't. However, the vast majority of the people who write to me do it to unload their problems, not count their blessings. I'm printing your letter for all to see that in-law relationships don't have to be adversarial -- and in fact, are often loving and supportive.