Let’s face it, parents can sometimes be a pain in the neck, but, as young adults, we are so wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t always recognize how much they do for us. My parents played a special role in not only the lives of their own children, but also in the lives of two other children and for that, they are my heroes.
My parents had four children, two boys and two girls, me being one of them. It’s not easy raising four young children but we were lucky. My mom was able to stay home and care for us when we were young. When I was four years old, my mother’s friend passed away from breast cancer. Rose was already a widow having lost her husband a few years earlier. She left behind two children, 17-year-old Chris and 13-year-old Krista. If you think about it, it’s not easy to add to an existing family when everyone in the household is already so close. It’s like a mobile. Everyone is in balance, and when you add two more weights to the mobile, everyone else has to adjust to keep the balance. Not only did my brothers and sister have to learn to share more of our parents’ time, but my parents had to be the glue that kept it all together.
We were lucky to have Chris and Krista as part of our family and they truly appreciated everything my parents did and wanted to make them proud. Chris, a very talented artist, went to college where he chased his dream to be a concept artist for movies and also met his wife, Anna. They have two adorable kids that are loving and sweet just like their parents. Krista lived with us longer than Chris and went to school to pursue her love of dance. She used her knowledge of movement and the human body to work in the fitness area.
They became our brother and sister in every sense of the word, and we always treated them that way. We are lucky to have them in our family. Now, I know I can be loud and annoying, and my parents and I usually butt heads a lot, but my brothers and sisters and I will never forget how our parents were able to make our blended family work. I would like this to be a big thank you to my parents from all of us. We are lucky to have them.
