Historically the "redheaded stepchild" is a character symbolic of parental neglect, but that couldn't be further from the truth in my life, and neither could the tale of evil stepparents/siblings. Looking back on my life, my parents' divorce and subsequent marriage to new spouses has had a profoundly positive impact on the lives of everyone involved. I don't resent my parents' divorce because who wants to grow up in a home with unhappy parents? Instead, I got to live in two different homes with four happy parents. This did not come without its challenges, but was far superior to the alternative.

I reaped the usual benefits of divorce like parental guilt and having two bedrooms to decorate and way too many Christmases (I now have five sets of grandparents). But the greatest gift that my parents gave me was the opportunity to grow as a member of a blended family. My mom's parents had both remarried so I grew up hearing my grandma tell me about how she used to tell her stepchildren, "I know I'm not your mom, but I'm the mom in this house," a philosophy that I easily adopted toward my own family.

My stepmother did not give birth to me, but she is married to my dad and they love myself, my brother and my two stepsisters as if all four of us had been their own. She played a role in parenting me throughout high school and supported my dad through my eating disorder recovery.

My stepdad didn't have a huge role in raising me, but I am so proud watching him and my mom raising my younger siblings together. We were once having family pictures done for church and the photographer could tell immediately that we were a blended family- my three step-siblings are all rather small and blonde- and offered to snap a picture of the "two families" separately. I have never seen them shut someone down so fast because from the day they got married, we have always been one family.

I have two fantastic, loving parents, and I am so happy that five other children get to be loved by them as well. I don't mind "sharing" my parents with my siblings- after all, I still have two more than the average person. I have never even dreamed of spouting the stereotypical, "You're not my real parent!" line. My brother and I now have four fantastic parents and respect them as such in their homes.

I am, quite literally, the redheaded stepchild. But I am the opposite of neglected or unloved. I'm biologically connected to two parents and one brother, but I get to live my life with two dad, two moms, four sisters, and two brothers, no "step" necessary.