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| Top Row: Heather, Russo, Brandi Bottom Row: Amy, Bella and Elma
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I was lucky, neither of my biological parents believed in labels such as "step" or "half". Both my biological parents married people who also became my parents and in turn brought me more sisters and brothers. Combined I have a large family which included 5 sisters and 3 brothers (funny sidebar, I have a father and two brothers named Jim or Jimmy)
There is no better example of how this has held true throughout my life than with my children. I gave birth to two children; DJ and Brandi, but I have 4 other daughters that I love as much as if they'd come from my body.
Brandi is my biological daughter and has the strongest spirit and determination of any person I've ever met. She was not a planned pregnancy but I remember taking a pregnancy test at home and then falling to my knees in the bathroom and praying the entire five minutes I had to wait to find out it was positive, and then I just cried tears of joy for another five minutes. I had a difficult pregnancy with Brandi and was hospitalized often due to hemorrhaging. But even in my womb she was determined to survive and she made her appearance after 60 hours of labor (24 hours at home and 36 hours in the hospital.)
Brandi is a mini me...she looks like me and has my temperament, which has often led to us having heated conversations and more than one door being slammed. She's 22 now, but she's still my baby.
The first bonus daughter is Amy. I met Amy when my first husband responded to a call at her home. She was so young, barely a teenager but he knew immediately that I should meet her. I knew the moment I met her that she would be in my life forever and 23 years later she's still here. Amy has overcome so much in her life but she never lost her determination to be someone I would be proud of...and I am overflowing with pride in Amy. She served her country in the military, she is a fabulous mother to five children, and she owns her own private investigation company. She's strong and confident...the complete opposite of what she was like when we met. I wish I could take a small portion of the credit but I can't. Amy has worked her ass off to get to where she is today, she's done it all on her own, sometimes falling but always picking herself back up and moving forward.
My second bonus daughter was Heather. Heather's family moved in just down the street from us several years ago, long before Brandi became ill. It seemed like if Brandi wasn't at Heather's house then Heather was at ours. I use to sit downstairs and listen to them giggle when Heather would spend the night and it always made my heart smile. I think I realized that Heather had become my bonus daughter the night she and Brandi were getting ready for a school dance at our house. As I helped them get ready and took pictures I looked at the girls and knew that Heather was my girl as surely as Brandi was.
Heather is smart...REALLY smart, and will be graduation from college before long. She's a hard worker, often working two jobs to support herself and pay for school, but even more important she has been a loyal friend to Brandi.
My third bonus daughter is Russo, whose name is actually Alexandria...but she'll always be Russo to me. Heather introduced Russo to Brandi and before long they became best friends. Brandi and Russo are more than best friends, they're sisters of the heart. They both lost their fathers when they were young, they were both raised by fantastic, fun mothers (love to you Shelly) and they both are wonderful mothers. Russo just gave birth to her first child last week, little baby Peyton who is absolutely adorable. From the moment I found out Russo was expecting I laid a grandmother claim on the child.
Russo has the type of loyalty to Brandi - and our entire family - that you only read about in books. I have no doubt that she would physically rip out her own pancreas and donate it to Brandi if it was possible, their love and bond is that strong.
And finally my fourth bonus daughter, my beloved Elma.
When I first met Elma I didn't like her...at all. As a matter of fact I believe I referred to her as that "crazy Bosnian chick". She dated my son for over a year and before long I realized that I actually kind of liked having her around, we'd just started off on the wrong foot. About 6 months into their relationship I started praying that this was the girl DJ would marry, but it wasn't meant to be. I made sure that both she and DJ knew that just because they weren't a couple any longer didn't mean that I loved Elma any less or was any less devoted to her. I love this girl, with my whole heart I adore her. I knew she loved me too, but I don't know if I understood how deep her love for me was until I was hospitalized with a mini-stroke earlier this year. The minute she heard she rushed to the hospital and the moment she saw me laying in the hospital bed she started sobbing...deep heart wrenching sobs. It took me about ten minutes to get her calmed down and realize I was fine, but I knew she had reacted exactly how any daughter who loves her mother would react when they fear they're going to lose their parent. She's as devoted to me as I am to her.
It's funny how life works out, I always wanted six children and thank God, it looks like I got them.
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