“The first night, Onyx cried out and before I could rush to his side, Tyler was already there soothing him back to sleep. I knew in that moment that although this was unconventional, this was right for us.”
‘A woman had a home that was ‘perfect for a couple that isn’t together, to live together.’ 2 years from the day I moved out, we moved back in together, as a co-parenting family.’
‘I basically had twin girls with Down syndrome, one of whom had only been home a month, and now I was having twins! My whole world stopped. I looked at my husband in shock.’
“I started sobbing. Her eyes were piercing my soul and saying, ‘You are my mom, and you need to come get me.’ In 10 months time, we had gone from 3 to 6 children, assuming our family was complete. But we were wrong once again.”
‘This might sound like a weird question, but is he your son?,’ asked the gas station attendant, gesturing to my 24-year-old. We were in a town 3 hours away from where we live.
“I was surprised by her question, wondering how she would have been able to guess that. ‘Yes he is,’ I answered the young woman. ‘How did you know?’”
‘I vividly remember the crazy looks I got with my huge pregnant belly and a newborn baby draped across my chest. I would stare too. It’s an odd sight, and honestly something I never imagined for myself.’
“But, there I was, about to have 2 babies 3 months apart.”
‘If you ask my boy, he’d tell you, he has two dads and two moms. All 4 of us kept Jaden’s needs before our own. A loving, crazy, enormous, blended family.’
“Kristen was young. So young, I had my reservations. I learned very fast that just because another woman was parenting my child, didn’t mean she was taking my place.”
‘His divorce was final in January and by March, we were engaged. This man made me feel special. I was so beat down. I felt like I deserved all the horrible things that had happened to me.’
“Out of curiosity, I signed up on an online dating site. I created a fake account. Something about talking to him just felt right. The girls needed a daddy.”
‘This is my dad, mowing my mom’s lawn. They’ve been divorced 28 years.’
“When my younger siblings questioned, ‘Why is your dad mowing mom’s lawn?,’ I told them, ‘Because she needed help, so he did.’ This is co-parenting. This is how lucky I am to have 4 parents who respect each other.”
‘We knew she was HIV+ which wasn’t a big deal. We wanted to adopt a child with this ‘special need.’ She was so beautiful.’
“She was 2 years old and only weighed about 15 pounds. She could hardly stand on her own, let alone walk.”
40 years ago my parents were asked if they would have an exchange student. I wonder if they knew the doors it would open to all of us?
“I look back with such wonder and appreciation of who my parents are. I will forever be in awe of the way they live their life.”
‘I gave him a letter today as he left for college. I never could’ve predicted how hard that drive away would be.’
“I decided to write Peyton a letter before he left. I needed to get out all of the things I wanted to say to him – the good and the bad. I’m sorry we took the easy way out. I wish we would have fought harder for you.”
