“My wife is 15 years older than I am, and I’m 15 years older than her youngest son, so the age gap was a bit of an issue. Later, our oldest opened up to us about being transgender.”
‘We met when we were married to our second husbands.’: Lesbian couple share journey blending families, having transgender child, ‘Find people who accept you as you are’
‘His daughter exclaimed, ‘Please, keep me safe!’ My heart melted. ‘Yes, baby girl, I will always keep you safe.’: Woman shares journey to being a step-mom, ‘I cherish their trust’
“I remember being both wary and excited, especially because I had never dated someone with kids before.”
‘You knew he had a child. What did you expect?’ It was an emotional battlefield.’: Stepmom urges others ‘I promise it’s so worth it’
“Every inch of this home made me cringe. I couldn’t even enjoy a coffee on the front porch without thoughts of my husband sitting on the porch with his ex-wife. Every handle I touched, every doorknob I turned, I couldn’t escape the past.”
‘Both of his eyes bounced. I knew there was something wrong.’: Mom says ‘we didn’t know how beautiful raising a blind child would be’
“I cried every time I thought of him not being able to see my face. It was hard not to grieve the baby we once dreamed of.”
‘In my left hand, I held a gun. In the other was a beer. My first Christmas as a single mom without my kids was soul-wrenching.’: Woman shares grief journey, ‘Life is messy and beautiful’
“I walked up to the cashier with a plunger and a six-pack of beer. ‘Merry Christmas!’ she beamed. I’m not sure I even said anything, but it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to see I wasn’t feeling the spirit. This wasn’t how I intended to spend Christmas Day.”
‘I’ll do it, but just this once.’ Famous last words. My body NEEDED them. I HAD to get high every 6 hours.’: Recovering addict shares sobriety journey, ‘All you have to do is SHOW UP’
“If I didn’t get high within an hour, I’d start throwing up. I’d sit in the bathroom for hours trying to hit. My veins were ruined. My probation officer was calling everyone I knew, threatening to send me to prison. I was at an all-time low.”
‘Your boyfriend and his ex are traveling together? You’re okay with this?!’ I laughed to myself, thinking about Corey driving Robin nuts the entire trip.’: Bonus mom shares co-parenting bond, ‘She makes me feel like part of the family’
“Some days I’m her confidante, some days her big sister, some days her disciplinarian. I love Corey to death, but right is right. When he’s screwing up and Robin gets painted as the bad cop, I say so.”
‘This is where I snapped the last living photo of my kids.’ You’re not supposed to bury your children. Your kids are supposed to bury you.’: Mom loses kids in car accident, discovers outdated car seat safety laws
“About an hour and a half into our trip, we stopped so Christine could have a smoke break. We pulled into one of those truck areas. This is where I snapped the last living photo of my kids.”
‘I feel like I’m betraying my mom.’ We drowned the first year. I stepmom-ed so hard, it almost broke me.’: Woman describes becoming a blended family, ‘My job is just to love them’
“I needed to take a step back. I had been trying so hard to help my stepchildren go through the healing process, I jumped into the mom role way too quickly. It wasn’t my job to fill the void.”
‘I wanted her approval. Ever since we met, she’s been amazing. We’re not a group of friends. We’re two sets of parents, killing the co-parenting game.’: Step-mom says co-parenting says is a ‘blessing’
“‘They are basically our family, so we might as well embrace it!’ Five days in to their visit, and it has been better than I expected, and so good for the soul. It has just felt so easy integrating our families. I look forward to making many more memories!”
