Step By Any Other Name

Liam and I decided to stop and take a lunch break while at the zoo today and within moments of walking into the pavilion where we planned to dine heard two little girls telling (what would appear to be their step dad or their mother's boyfriend) all the ways that their DAD was fantastic, great, irreplaceable, etc. And, they continued non-stop for the 35 minutes that we were in there. And, he didn't bat an eyelash--he listened, agreed, and was down with the fact that this was a fight that he wouldn't and didn't need to win.

I know that he didn't need to win this and couldn't win this, because I was once those girls--but meaner. And, then out of nowhere (sometime in college) I realized the amazing gift I had received in my step father, because there was no "step" about it. He stepped in and has been every bit my father for 2/3 of my life. He walked me down the aisle. He was there at the birth of my child.

Some of the best things in life you have to fight for. And, we fought tooth and nail for years and I must say our relationship was worth every blow...because his unconditional love is one of the best things to ever happen to me.