Cinderella has branded the minds of young children leaving them worried that they might end up with a stepparent and stepsisters that make them their personal slave. Some stepparents are to be feared. However, some are what saves a lot of children from growing up without knowing the love of one of their parents.

When I talk about my stepdad I call him dad. Because that’s what he is to me. My dad. The guy who got my mom pregnant at 16 and ran out on us is not my dad. The guy who knew my name, gender, and location but never tried to reach out to me or search for me is not my dad. He chose to walk away, and for these reasons I wont seek him out. But, the man who came into my moms life and treats her like a queen, is my dad. The man who taught me how to love nature, ride a horse, and camp is my dad. The man who decided to take on the challenge of a single mom with three children from different guys is my dad.

I will always be grateful to my dad for coming into my life early enough that he could raise me the way I deserve to be raised. I will always be thankful that he took a broken woman raising three kids alone and helped her to love herself and loved her kids along with her. The kindness and love he has extended to me and my siblings is something that very few people whose parent ran out on them get to experience. He is the reason I didn’t grow up without a dad, he is the reason that I got to grow up a complete person. I will never consider myself half of my mom and half of my biological father. I am half of my mom and half of the man who raised me. Because they are the only ones who can take credit for who I have become today. So to all the stepparents around the world who are raising someone else's kids as their own, Thank you for stepping up and being the other half those kids need .