If you grew up like I did, you grew up hearing fairytales. Stories about faraway places, princesses needing to be rescued and, of course, for many, they also included the ever-dreaded stepmother. You know what I am talking about, right? I’m talking about the wicked and evil stepmothers from Cinderella, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel!
Those fairytales combined with friends telling me horror stories about their own stepfamily situations often had me thanking my lucky stars that my parents were happily married. I didn’t have to worry about stepmoms, siblings, or any other stepfamily situation I had heard about as I grew up.
Then my mom died and our world was turned upside down.
My dad was alone for the first time in almost 40 years and was lonely and a bit lost. We were devastated and not knowing what to do without our mom around.
After a while, dad started dating and I won’t lie, I was happy to see him happy but terrified that the tale of the evil stepmother could become my new reality.
Then I got to meet her… my dad’s girlfriend. And it wasn’t at all what I had expected. She never tried to take my dad away from us. Not only did I like her very much, I immediately felt like I was part of her family, too. She was there for the birth of my twins and my youngest daughter. When I can’t figure out how to make something or what is wrong with my plants, I know I can call her to ask. She gives my dad an appropriate amount of grief and helps me know that he is being watched over when I can’t be there. She has not once tried to take the place of my mom but is always there when I need her to be.
The moral of this story: sometimes tragedy can happen.
Sometimes you lose your mom and a stepmom can become your new reality. Fairytales are simply that, tales. I don’t have an evil and wicked stepmom like the stories warn of, but rather a bonus mom that I didn’t know I needed!
