Serendipity

11 and a half years ago, I fell in love with a family that wasn’t mine.

At the weakest point in my life, I found love—and with that love came a family I came to cherish as my own. It wasn’t perfect, but what family is? For every moment that felt right, there were dozens that didn’t. Still, it was family. And through them, I learned some of the most valuable lessons of my life—lessons that brought me closer to my own family, to something I thought I had lost forever.

I gave my heart to a family that would eventually grow. I did my part while I could, while they needed foundation. I thought the hardest part would be losing them—never realizing that the real fear would come from watching them grow up and not needing me the same way anymore.

Now, as everyone grows, I’m left wondering if I’ve been standing still all this time.
Who am I without this family?
Who am I without what we used to be?

Because what we’re becoming… scares me.

And yet, I have no regrets.
I will always love them as if they were my own—because in my heart, they still are.

To my girls: I never stopped loving you. I never will. That’s my duty—as a husband, a brother, and a father figure, in whatever shape I took in your lives.

I fell in love with a family that wasn’t mine.
Now, I have to find myself again—somewhere in the rubbles of what used to be.