I can remember my mom always looking at magazines of a whole bunch of engagement rings. She would also “hint” at getting married, although it was extremely obvious. One February night, as I was eating my dinner or doing whatever my nine-year old self did, my mom’s boyfriend came up to me. He pulled out a small box and right then and there, I knew what was happening. He opened the box and showed me the gorgeous ring and I was delighted. He then proposed to my mom, just at our house, nothing fancy. Her dreams finally came true so of course, she said yes.

Families can come in all forms. Whether it’s a mom and a dad with kids, just a mom or just a dad, a step parent in the mix of things, or some families could have two moms or two dads. Of course there’s endless possibilities of what a family is, and if you’ve ever seen the movie Lilo and Stitch you could see that a family could just be an older sister raising her little sister. And now I will explain how a complete stranger can become your family, and the positive outcomes of it.

Honestly, I can’t even remember where it started. If I’m correct, I was only in first grade when my mom started dating her boyfriend, so that was many years ago. Since I was so young, I don’t think I really knew what was happening or that they would ever get married. To me, I didn’t really consider him family, and I thought he was just a person my mom dated. I was wrong, and that was not the case.

My step dad and I go turkey hunting together every year. If it weren’t for him, I never would have gotten into it. I love going, and to me, it’s really fun. Occasionally, he takes us all fishing as a family and it’s really fun. Before he came into our lives, we never really did things like that so it’s great that we now have the opportunity to do these activities.

They’ve been married for five and a half years now and it’s crazy to me that this even happened. Some people might think that step parents are awful, but I’m so lucky that I have one and I’m grateful for him. Before him, my mom was a single parent and now that she has him I think her life is a lot better and therefore I am glad she found someone that can make her, and also her children happy. Sometimes a stranger can become a part of your family and it’s a great thing.