i will try to be brief- basically tibs' mom died when he was 8. tibs' dad was a lobsterman with a penchant for alcohol and a tendency to cheat so the following relationships usually ended pretty messy... but he kept getting married bc he's one of those blue collar guys that likes having somebody to come home to/take care of him. the specific part that matters to fill the line is just making sure your girl has a mom that would fall for a guy like that (probably handsome but pretty low income, saddled with a son, bit of a temper etc). he could be, on occasion, abusive.
we'd also have to decide which marriage and for which years they were together since i have that he was married three times after his first wife passed.