An Open Letter to my "Step"Father

I’m going to be completely honest and open with you; my father has hardly been in my life.  Even when my parents were “together” they never were a couple.  When My mom and I would want to take family trips, my father would pay for my grandparents to go with us so he didn’t have to.  My mom has always said that even when she was married to my dad she was a single mom.  Besides my uncle and my grandfather who have been wonderful male role models in my life, I have never had a “father figure”; one who would love the family like a real father does by taking care of the family, listening to my mom’s worries, and helping me out when I need it most.  That all changed when my mom decided to enter the dating world again and met the man that is now my stepfather.  I decided to put my feelings into words (because that is how I best express my emotions) and write an open letter to him, so here it goes.

Dear Ricky,

I want to say thank you for being the man that my mom needed.  Thank you for being there for her, for supporting her, for making her feel beautiful, and for filling her life with a love that my own father couldn’t give her.  I can now leave for law school knowing that she will miss me, but she will have someone to keep her company so that she is never alone.  I also want to thank you for finally giving me a family.  Thank you for giving my mom and I a home, one that is beautiful and warm and loving and that is ours.  Thank you for wanting to take that next step with us; my own father never wanted to better our family.  Thank you for offering to give me your car when mine was cosmetically damaged while my own father offered to sell me one of his.

Thank you for being a father to me; even though I am not your own flesh and blood, you have taken me in and loved me more than I could ever imagine.  In my eyes, you are more my father than the one who gave me life.  I can’t wait to see where the future will take us as a family!  Thank you once again for taking us in as your own.  To this day, I still don’t know why you want to get into this craziness of a family, but you do and I am thankful for that.  I love you more than words can describe.  Thank you for making this girl believe in fathers again. 

                                                            Sincerely,

                                                            Your daughter

I hope that at least some of you were able to relate to this article.  I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  I don’t know where my family would be right now without my stepfather, and for that I am forever grateful.