I Never Expected a “Love You, Too” {A Stepmom’s Story}

Our text ended, “Love you,”  with a response from her, “Love you, too.”

I never expected that.

I am the momma of boys, big boys and little boys. So when my husband and I married and I became a stepmom to a boy, I knew what to expect. Then insert his sweet daughter and I felt as though I was in unchartered waters.

To continue the unintended cheesy nautical metaphor, the blending of said family was a bit like a hurricane and a tsunami all rolled into one. The waves were rough and many times I felt as though the pressure of the current was taking me places that I had never wanted to go. As we dove into this family, I fully believed that we would be good to go as a blended family in no time.

It was difficult, I never expected that.

Days turned into weeks that turned into months and then years. It was still difficult.

And then something happened. I decided to love her in everything I did. Love her when she talked to me and love her when she pulled away. Love her when she wanted to share with me what was gong on and love her when she didn’t feel comfortable sharing with me. Love her when she was struggling with things in her life and love her when things were going great. Love her from afar and not push myself on her.

I decided to love her no matter how she felt about me being her stepmom, I was going to just love her for who she was, and where she was with her head, her emotions and her relationships.

So when texting my sweet stepdaughter, almost 11 years after I married her father, I got what I never expected.

The years and the tears and the more than a decade that has passed made that text even more precious.

Love you, too.