You came into my life only a few years ago; four years ago, to be exact. It was during a crucial time in my life. I was 16 years old, my mother had just passed away and I had more issues than one.
The first time we met, I knew I would love you... eventually. At the time, I was pretty angry at my dad for making me meet someone new; someone who was going to be part of the family “whether I liked it or not.” I quickly realized how difficult it was going to be for me to open up; I hadn’t had to do that before.
During the car ride home, the whole 15 hours, we talked about pretty much everything. I told you about school, the guy I was dating at the time, my home life and what I wanted to do with my life. You seemed pretty impressed by this; you seemed to like me a lot. Acceptance is something I expected to feel, but not right off the bat. I guess I took a liking to you pretty quickly, too.
I remember asking you questions about your teenage life, what you did when you were my age, how you and my dad met back in the day and how you got over certain things that had happened in your life. I was pretty shocked at how much you and I had in common.I felt pretty confident that you and I would like each other. Hoping you were going to be able to see past how damaged I was due to my mom passing away, you did the opposite. Yes, you accepted me the way I was, damaged and all, but instead of it being an off-topic subject, you wanted to talk about it. I guess I found myself pretty annoyed by this, but I did anyway. I don’t know if you remember that night, but you helped me accept the fact that death was just a part of life; something I had never really thought about before. You told me how mature and “grown up” you thought I was. I had never been told that by anyone before, so obviously I was feeling like a million bucks!
Over the years, we had our issues, just like any family. There were days you and I couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with each other. I could tell this really hurt you. After all, you were just trying to be part of our family. You were trying to make us a family again. It took me awhile to realize that. It was after I had moved out and went to college that I actually realized how much my family needed you. I also realized how much you meant to me. Even though you were a “step” parent, you were my “step” parent and you taught me a huge lesson about character. You taught me how to love someone, even if you don’t have to, and that’s exactly what you did. You chose to love someone that you didn’t have to.
You chose to love me.
