To The Woman Who Took Me As Her Own

Dear Den Mother,

Although you came into my life late, I am so glad that you did. I was already what most people would call an 'adult' at the age of 19 but I still had some serious growing up to do.

You helped me in ways I never could have imagined. You taught me that there are women out there willing to take on just about anything, even two children their father calls the terrible two (with the greatest of affection).

When I went through the hardest breakup of my life at 21, you stood by my side and did what any mother would do. You helped me heal and grow, you offered me a warm place to lay my head when I needed it. Most of all you were just there, sometimes that's all that's needed.

Even more amazing is the fact you took on my lunatic of a dad, even after knowing him for 15 years previously! You must be a madwoman. But madwoman or not, I love you to the moon and back.

I don't just love you because you're a genuinely wonderful human being, I love you because you accepted without judgement and came into our lives without any expectation. I imagine that when you first began dating my dad, you had no idea you'd also be dating his children, but you did it without even batting an eyelid.

Your commitment to our family is seen in everything that you do from marrying my dad to treating us as if we were your own. You gave me my dad back when I truly believed he would take his own life just to stop the unbearable pain we saw him in every day. I have never seen a man so happy and it's all because of you.

To you, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for not being the total opposite of what I think of when I think of the term 'step mother'. Thank you for encouraging me to follow my dreams. But most of all, thank you for showing me how to be a step mum myself! I couldn't have done that one without you.

You've enriched all of our lives in unimaginable ways and I'm sure that everyone in the family feels the same way.

Our family grew threefold when you walked into our lives and I wouldn't have it any other way.

You're an amazing mum and nana! I say that because you aren't really a step mum at all. We may not have the same blood running through our veins but you've always loved and cared for me as if we did.

I'm so proud to have you as a part of our family and I know my daughters will be too! I look forward to making so many more memories with you because there's one thing you should know, now you're in it with us, you're stuck with us! Deal with it. *Winky Face*

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If you're reading this and have absolutely no idea what a Den Mother is, it's the name my little brother and I came up with on our first Mother's Day with our step mum.

When I hear the word step mum I think of the evil woman in Cinderella and the term just simply couldn't do this amazing woman justice. At the time she married our dad, both myself and my brother still lived at home (the den) and so she became our Den Mother. To this day it's written on every birthday, Christmas and Mother's Day card.

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