I don't usually refer to my step dad as a step dad but had always called him dad and referred to him as such. For the most part he was the only dad I knew because my biological father died of cancer a few months before I was born. A year after I was born, my mother married the man I grew up knowing as my dad. My mother always told me about my father and that he was my guardian angel and I had always understood why she remarried. I am the youngest of 3 which means he had 3 step kids to take under his wing. I know this had not been easy for him at all. Growing up with him wasn't easy especially in during my childhood years. He was a bad alcoholic but fortunately not a physically violent one. Thankfully (when I was a teen) my mother was able to get him to stop drinking cold turkey when she threatened to leave him. He was still a pain in the butt but he grew into a man we could truly love and respect as our dad. He also loved and respected us as well. He had told my mother at one time he had wished to adopt me as his son but chose not to respect me and my father. He didn't want me to be angry with him for taking my father's family name away from me without giving me a choice and I love him for that. I never did allow him to adopt me but someday when I do have a child, I want his family name to be part of my child's name.

Sadly this past June he had passed away from cancer throughout his body. He was not well and unable to attend my wedding last May, but thankfully I had our wedding recorded and found a way for him to witness it from his deathbed on YouTube. I was told (yes there are tears in my eyes right now) that he wanted to watch the video over several times and that he was very happy to get a chance to witness our marriage. I am so thankful that my best friend back in my hometown was able to make it possible for him to see our wedding video. My best friend was greatly honored and to do this for our family and did not want anything in return as we had given him so much when he was down in the dumps himself.

So there you have it... It is possible to love a man who isn't your biological father as though he was. I miss him dearly and know he is in a special place in Heaven right now. He'll always have a special place in my heart.