Kids

I feel like I have had five, but I really only have two.

I was engaged, years ago, to the Worst Man in the Entire World, and he had two daughters:  A was about 5 when we got together and M was 3.  I loved them.  Oh, did I love them. 

A was the most creative little girl and she was so excited about me becoming her step-mom.  One year, for my birthday, she made an "advent" calendar for the fourteen days leading up to my birthday.  She strung a garland of envelopes along our staircase and in each envelope was a note that said "Give everyone a hug today", or something like that.  It was the sweetest gift and I think she was only 7 at the time.

M was an independent little girl and we battled constantly.  She was cute as a button though and she would sings songs to Daisy, our dog.  I used to put peanuts on the deck of our house for the squirrels and one day I looked out and saw M cracking them open and feeding them to Daisy.

Those two girls are the reason I stayed with the Worst Man in the Entire World as long as I did.  I didn't want to leave them.  In the end, he gave up custody of them to their mother and her husband.  I still keep in touch with both girls and I'm happy to see that they are both creative and happy and living life to the fullest.

After I left the Worst Man in the Entire World, I moved in with my Brother and Sister-in-law and their six-month old son, Woodrow.  I was there when he was born and I spent a lot of time with them before I moved up to live with them.  Brother worked a weird shift and Sister-in-Law went to school during the day and worked at night so W and I spent a LOT of time together.  For a long time, I put him to bed every night.  We were pretty close.  His first word was "Daisy".  We lived together for two years before they moved to the east side of the state.  When his little brother was born, I thought there was no way in the world that I could love him as much as I love Woodrow.  I did though.

Sometime while I was living with Brother and his family, I met Brown Eyed Man.  Eventually I moved down to where he was living and eventually we got married.  When he asked me to marry him he said "Will you marry me and my kids?".  He asked their permission before he asked me.  They were there for the proposal and The Boy asked if he could come to our wedding.  I died.  His mother had gone to Vegas one weekend and gotten married without telling them.  When she got back, they had a new Step-Dad.  I told him that not only could he come to the wedding, but that he would be in it.  He was our Best Man and The Girl was the Maid of Honor.  There were no other people I would consider for those positions.

I'm lucky to have had all of these kids in my life and I'm still lucky that I still have them.  I  take my role as "Mom" to The Boy and The Girl very seriously and it is such an honor to hear them call me "Mom".  A title I never really thought I would ever have.

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