The Blended Family: Don’t Leave Your Namesake Feeling Less Blended

During my childhood, I was not without plenty of guardianship.

I had a wonderful mother and father, exceptional grandmothers and a very willing stepmother. I was loved, included, cared for, encouraged and supported.

I was blessed to have an ongoing support system and there were no feelings of exclusion, even though my dad married when I was very young and remained in my home city of Austin while my mother moved us back to her home city of Houston.

I recall when my daddy sat me down to tell me that due to my relocating to Houston, we wouldn’t see one another every weekend like we had been and I cried hysterically!

I can only imagine what may have been going through my 9-year-old mind then.

I was glued to his hip with my other siblings as he refereed basketball games, played flag football with his buddies, hosted countless shindigs in his home.

I watched him tap his fingers against his leg as if he was playing an instrument as he blasted Cameo while we coasted down the freeway from grocery store runs where he always knew someone (he still taps his imaginary drum while driving and he still knows someone everywhere he goes.)

I would miss him combing my hair almost better than my mom.

Yes, I carried his last name, but, more importantly, I carried his love for me in my heart and I carried the non-stop experiences of just having my Pops even though my parents were no longer an item.

My stepmom even fussed at my dad a time or two on my behalf because he wouldn’t let me have my way; and then eventually I got my way – talk about support, honey!

Today, I am a mother and thus far I can’t think of a more challenging, unpredictable, rewarding experience in this journey called life.

I have witnessed blended families both personally and by just scrolling through my timeline and there are variations of it.

My children belong to a set of parents who are divorced, but my commitment to them, like the majority of parents, runs deep.

Me and my babies!