Dear my father's next (current) love,

A lot of people I go to school with hate their step parents due to different stereotypes, but I don't hate you at all. I love you very much, and I want to thank you for so many things that you have done for me. So this article is for you. You aren't a step-parent to me, you are another parent to me. We have had so many good times and laughs together these past two years and I wouldn't trade them for anything. You always know when I am upset and always ask me what is wrong. Yes, we have had our ups and downs, but every parent and their child has ups and downs, it's normal.

Everything that we have been through has only made us a stronger family. Thank you for all the jokes we have shared together and all the selfies you have taken with me because you know I am the selfie queen. I am so lucky that my father found you and chose you to be in our family instead of someone else, haha you know who I am talking about. You have been a mother figure in my life since 2014 when we have first met and I have learned so much from you. I look up to you so much and if it wasn't for you, I don't know how I would be right now. Every teenage girl needs a mother figure in their life and since my mother doesn't live close by you are that to me.

Without you, my father would be lonely and sad. Thank you for always being there for my father when he needed someone the most. Without you, he would have had to do everything on his own, especially raising me and we all know that's a bit of a challenge. Thank you for loving my father. I know he can be a handful at times, but you always remember why you love him so much. Also, thank you for everything you've provided me with. Thank you for everything that you have bought and given to me that you didn't have to do, but you did.

You did not carry me in your stomach for nine months, give birth to me, and raise me from the day I was born, but you still treat me like I am your daughter and I am forever grateful for that. Not only did you give my father and I a home, food, water, etc., but you also gave us Christmas gifts. You have given me things that a real parent should give to their child. You are such a wonderful and beautiful person inside and out, and you are more than just a step-parent to me. You contradict all the negative stereotypes that the media portrays toward step-parents. So thank you for the many things you've done for my father and me, even the small stuff.

I love you very much.

Your chica,

Rach