How I've come to admire you.

I already wrote about my real mom and all the beautiful lessons she taught me. Now, this one goes out to my other mama: My step-mom, Jennifer.

Now, to get to talking about her, I have to go way back, before she entered our lives - back in the early '90s.

When I was one, my parents separated. I met different boyfriends of my mom's, but my dad didn't bring anyone around us, and (in my childlike mind) I thought he was lonely. It made me sad that he didn't have anyone to share his life with. When we kids were with my mom, he came home to an empty house. I wanted my dad to be happy (now, as an adult, I know that he did date, he just didn't introduce anyone to us because he wanted it to be more serious first. I just didn't know that).

My brother and I would make him collages of women (I know it's so ridiculous). I would cut out really pretty models from magazines and glue them to construction paper (yes, my brother made his own, too) in hopes of helping him find someone he'd like. If we were at my mom's, we'd have her mail them for us or, if we were with him, we'd just hand them to him ourselves (yes, we did this several times). I also want to mention here that my brother and I were pretty young (he was like 7 and I was about 5). So, we really just thought that's how it worked. You know, find a pretty girl, show her to my dad, and have him pick the one he liked best. Easy-peasy, right?

I didn't know how far off wrong that actually was. Especially being a woman myself now, I wouldn't want to be auctioned off like that, but I was five and just didn't know anything about finding the perfect match.

Anyway, my dad introduced us to one girlfriend who had two or three sons, but I don't remember too much about her. I was little, but I also just don't think I spent much time with her. All I remember is her black curly hair. She also didn't stay around for very long.

When we were young, we used to visit my Uncle Bobby all the time. He ran his own apartment building in Hollywood and I really enjoyed hanging out with my cousin, Johnathan, while my dad and Uncle Bob talked about boring adult stuff.

Then, when I was seven years old, we met Jennifer. My dad had obviously met her first and was seeing her for a while (the sneaky devil) and I totally had no idea at the time. I thought we all met around the same time. Maybe I just wasn't very observant (did I mention that I was only seven?).

Anyway, I really liked her right away. I would get so excited to go to Uncle Bobby's, not to see him or my cousin, but to see Jennifer. She was this really pretty and cool woman who had her own little apartment. I would run over to her door every time we entered the building and ask for vitamin E (did I lose you?). Okay, okay, that must sound strange, but she was always a health-conscious person with vitamins and I really loved the taste of eating them without swallowing them with water (I don't know when that started, but to this day, I prefer to chew on my vitamin E capsules rather than drinking them down with water).

She was new and different. There was a certain repetition in my dads' life. When I was younger, I used to visit him during the Summers. My dad always worked a lot, so he put us in Summer School and we went to my Uncle Bob's a lot and we ate at the same restaurants and I would entertain myself while he talked to adult after adult and sometimes, he got donuts for breakfast, but it was always the same stuff occurring all the time. Then, Jennifer came into our lives and everything changed.

There were times, I won't lie, that it was a little weird for me. I was used to having my dad giving me and my brother all of his attention when we were around him. But now there's this completely other person who he wanted to be around. And sometimes, it would make me a little uncomfortable or uneasy, but then I would remind myself that this is what I wanted. I wanted him to find a companion. I wanted him to be happy. That was the whole reason I had made him so many collages in the first place. This is exactly what I wanted for him and then it just stopped being weird altogether.

I had moved in with them a while after that and things were a little different again, but that was okay. Because honestly, I did like Jennifer. She was pretty and nice. I was okay with giving this, giving her a real chance. And then my brother had officially moved in a year later.

There were times in which I was a little a-hole because of tantrums and the like. I was still a kid who would throw a fit when I didn't get my way sometimes. Jennifer didn't always know how to deal with me, but the good times were really good, I'll tell you that much.

She felt like she wasn't really in the position to parent me, which is okay because she wasn't really my parent. But we were all living together and making this work as best as we could. And Jennifer became a really good friend.

She was like one of those really cool girls that you're a little too intimated to approach on your own, but she took an interest in you anyway. That's how it felt when I was younger. Her two sisters were like that, too. It was like I received a personal invitation to their 'cool girls' club. It sounds so dorky now, but I remember feeling that way. Anytime they'd dance and sing and play with me, I felt so honored, so happy. In case you couldn't tell by reading this, I didn't have very many friends growing up and, then, all of a sudden, I had three that were really close to me.

Anyway, Jennifer taught me many things like properly cleaning the house, taking responsibility for my actions, and (probably the most important) being able to accept adding new members to the family.

I remember one day at school where someone was talking about how horrible their step-mom was and then looked at me, saying, "You know what I mean, right, Skye?"

I shook my head and told her, "Actually, I like my step-mom."

My dad and Jennifer dated for a whole five years before they got married and pregnant with their first. I had a lot of experiences with her before she had kids of her own and I think our experiences together also taught/ prepared her for motherhood.

Jennifer and I had our issues with one another at times (especially through my teenage years), but, at some point, I realized that she is totally one of my parents. Sometimes we laughed and sometimes we fought, but she was always there for me unconditionally, just like my real parents are.

When there were things like someone trying to take advantage of me (like salespeople or car rental services) she would turn into a kind of scary mom who would handle those situations for me and when something serious would happen, she wouldn't leave my side. Of course, my other parents are there, too, and it's so appreciated to have them as well. I think I just didn't know how much she loved me for a long time.

So, that is probably the ultimate thing that my step-mom taught me. I spent years feeling like we were kind of friends and other times I didn't even feel like we could call ourselves that, but then it was like this certainty washed over me. She was more than just a friend and she was more than my fathers' wife or the mother to my younger siblings. She is my other mom and I am so grateful that she is.

We've had our ups and downs, we've had our experiences, and we've come to this point where there are no longer any upsets. We're just happy to have each other and she is now my sons Grandma and she adores him.

Thank you, Jennifer, for always being here, even when I didn't know how much I needed you at times, just like my mom and dad. You also played a hand in shaping me into this woman I've become. I am so grateful that you married my father (he really needed you), I'm so grateful to you had my sister and brother (we all really needed them), and I'm so grateful to have you as one of my parents. I love you so much, Jennifer. Thank you for being a part of my journey!

Thank you all for reading this tribute to my Step-mom. If you liked this story please, leave me a heart.