�To the parent who didn’t have to be,
You have taken on the most admirable of jobs, loving and raising a child who isn’t biologically your own. You stepped in when someone else stepped out, knowing that you may never fill their shoes completely. You may never hear your step children call you “daddy,” no matter how much love you pour into them. You may never feel like their first choice. As they run into the arms of the parent you stepped in for, you may feel overlooked or less than.
But I see you. I see the effort you put in every day to care for your children. I see the love you exude even when you feel like it’s a one-way street. I see the pride you take in being a father and the way that “step” doesn’t mean much to you – your children are your children.
I hope more than anything that you know you are loved. As a child of divorce, it’s sometimes hard to find a balance that feels appropriate. We never want any parent to feel less than. With multiple parents, it may not always work out this way, but it is important that you know that you mean just as much to us as our biological parents do. In a way, sometimes more. You have a special ability to mend broken hearts. You love your children enough to invest years in understanding the past that didn’t involve you in order to love us through it.
You have been there through all of my successes, failures, heartbreaks, and passions. You have gone to every concert, play, and ceremony I’ve been a part of. And trust me, I know there have been a lot. You’ve stayed up late to talk me through tough times even when you had to get up at 4 a.m.
You moved me into my dorm room on the first day of college and watched TV with me through the phone on my first night by myself, because, even though I would have never admitted it, I’m sure you knew I was terrified to be on my own. It’s silly, but knowing that you were only a call away is what got me through those first few nights. You have my same stupid sense of humor and joke with me about things that others might find inappropriate (we both know they’re just lame). You never fail to make me laugh.
Being a parent is wonderful and heartbreaking and difficult all at the same time, so I praise all who wear this badge. But you – you love children you didn’t create as if they were your own. You chose to be a parent when you didn’t have to be, and that is the most admirable thing in the world. Thank you.
