Looking back seven years ago, my father and I stood in our house with the bare white walls, panicked and scared. My mother had just left us, and we were left wondering what a 12-year-old and a single father with cerebral palsy were supposed to do? How were we going to live?
Sure, our life then was nowhere near perfect, and we struggled a lot as we tried to find out feet. But fast forward to now, seven years later, and I don't think either of us could have imagined this would be our life now.
You see, October 10th is when my father remarried.
And no, he didn’t marry just anyone--he married the most loving and caring women I could have ever hoped for.
I remember being about 16 or so when we waited at the local small town airport, and I watched this blonde curly-haired women run towards my father, while her daughter giggled and cheered from her wheelchair as Mommy pushed her towards us. I admit I was anxious--after everything that we’ve been through in our lives so far, I only wanted the best for my father. He deserved unconditional love and understanding. I wasn’t so worried about me, I was 16 and getting ready for the next chapter in my life.
But this woman, Holly, exceeded everything I ever could have imagined for my father. She not only loved my father, she loved us.
She loved our family.
Many see our photos and memories on Facebook and comment how beautiful and perfect we are. But I think we all realize that we’re far beyond normal. It’s a circus when we’re traveling: we jump out of our wheelchair van, my dad zooming down the ramp, my sister Annabelle cheering and screaming as Holly buckles her into her chair, and then there's me with our service dog Buckley, who absolutely hates moving cars. Our family is weird, crazy, and often times go, go, go--but at the end of the day, we realize we wouldn't want it any other way. We are living a crazy life, but doing so with a household full of love and joy.
I couldn’t be more in awe as our family celebrates the first anniversary of being a family.
To Holly: I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful, loving, caring, kind, and overall amazing step-mother. You completely understand my father and love him unconditionally, but what’s the best of all is that you never separated me from him. You realized Mark and Emily are a packaged deal. You not only loved my father, but loved me as well. You’ve shown both of us unconditional love, and made us all a family. I love sharing the Lularoe obsession with you, and how you get me tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream when I’m upset. I love how we can both cry together over Annie’s accomplishments and eat copious amounts of sushi.
Most of all, I love that from the start, you believed in us as a family. You fought long and hard, and left your friends and life back in California to move across country to Pennsylvania to be a family. You knew we were meant to be a family.
To Annabelle:
You have filled my life with so much joy and laughter. I’ve always had a love for kids, but you, my sweet girl, are different. You take on the world as if it’s Annie’s, and we just all live in it. You constantly want to play and have fun, and are always giggling. We share a love of music and cuddles. You’ve taught me positivity and to not sweat the small things. I miss you terribly when I’m away at college. When I am stressed out, all I want is to hear your little giggly laugh and to have you cuddle me. I will always be your "ready, set, go!" person. I will always fight for you, because I believe in you and all that you can be. You are smart and creative, and you shine.
It’s a time of "firsts" for my family. But we are celebrating more than that first. We are celebrating love and life. Let us all celebrate not only our own "firsts," but our beautiful lives. It's never easy, and there's always going to be bumps in the road, but isn't that what makes life so unique and special--waiting to see what's next in store for us?
Happy Anniversary my beautiful, loving, and crazy family. I can't wait to see what's next for us.
