(13/13) “Right before Tripp went to prison I sat the kids down one-by-one. I told them that th
(13/13) “Right before Tripp went to prison I sat the kids down one-by-one. I told them that they were loved, and they were chosen. But they were conceived by a sperm donor. I thought it was going to be hard on them. But they were happy. The first thing they said was: ‘You mean we don’t have his genes?’ All of them have grown into such great people. We have our good weeks. And our bad weeks. Life wasn’t finished giving us surprises. I’ve had another marriage. And another daughter. I now have two beautiful twin granddaughters running around the house. Last night all my kids came over for dinner. We were together in the living room, talking and laughing. That’s still my biggest joy: watching these people love each other, helping them navigate through life. Elle needs to get her grades up, so I took her phone away. She was tickling me, trying to get it back. Charles was begging me to take him to Hobby Lobby, because he’s got his first girlfriend. He wants to make her a bracelet. John still drives his sisters crazy. They’re always complaining that he’s acting like their dad. He drives me crazy too. I’ll have just finished making dinner, and he’ll say: ‘Have you gone over Charles’ spelling words?’ It’s like: ‘Can I ever take a break?’ But I couldn’t have done this without him. One time I asked him: ‘John, what makes you so good?’’ He told me: ‘I saw how Dad treated you. And I never wanted to hurt you like he did.’ John graduates from dental school in May. He was elected president of his class, so he gave a speech at the induction ceremony. There were hundreds of people in attendance: all the students, all their families. John was the last one to speak. He thanked all his teachers, one by one. Then he pointed over to where I was sitting. He said: ‘Mom, can you please stand up?’ I had no idea what was going on, but I stood up. Everyone turned to look at me. And John said: ‘Mom, you’re the reason I’m here. You’ve taught me to push myself to limits I’ve never dreamed possible. When everyone threw in the towel on our family, you persisted. And you were everything we needed you to be. I don’t have a coffee mug to give you– but you’re the number one Mom in the world.” -- source link