As a kid, I was always jealous of with married parents. I wanted parents who were interested and engaged in their kids' lives — along with extended family members and grandparents who added value to every activity through shared generational experiences. Because I didn't experience precisely that growing up, I set out to create it as an adult.
For a moment, I had a husband and a beautiful son. Unfortunately, when my , so did my hopes and dreams of creating that traditional family experience for my son. Since then, it's always been the two of us — Johnathan and I against the world.
There were many family members and friends who weaved in and out of the picture and supported us from the sidelines, but at the end of the day, it was just us. Now, is engaged to the woman of his dreams, and they're creating the family I never could give him. Johnathan recently met his .
Her parents are from El Salvador and have a beautiful relationship and long-term marriage. My son and his fiancé live a few blocks from her parents, so they all spend a lot of time together. The first time I met her parents, at a for my son, I cried on the way home.
I could see how much they loved him, how well they knew him, and how special he was to them and they were to him. I was very happy for my son, his girlfriend, and her parents; they developed a special bond. At the same time, my heart broke a little bit.
For the first time in my son's life, I felt like a true outsider. The more time I spent with her.
