Faith, Family and Grace

He was 7 years old and fully absorbed in Legos. A bit shy and quiet, I tried to draw him out by playing card games with him. I encouraged him to eat the green peas on his dinner plate and he glared at me. But eventually, Kyle and I became partners, card partners in the game of spades. We’d play for hours against Kyle’s dad, who was my boyfriend, and Kyle’s sister, Karmen. Kyle and Karmen lit the candles on the day their dad and I got married.

In the intervening 19½ years, I watched Kyle graduate from St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School, Rockhurst High School and the University of Missouri. I watched that little boy mature into a teenager and then an adult. The shy quiet one became the constant joker and life of the party. This boy who wouldn’t touch a pea became a gourmet chef who would try any exotic delicacy.

Last Saturday I watched him walk down the aisle with his own bride, his new partner in the card game of life. My heart brimmed with gratitude and joy. I was privileged to share a portion of the journey that enabled him to begin his own family. I know his prickly side, his sweet side, his intellectual rigor, his playful banter, and I know that his heart is full of love to share.

Families come in all shapes and sizes these days. When I was a child, if my classmate had a “step-mother” then we considered theirs to be a “broken home.” But now that I have spent 15 years of my life as a step-mother (leave out the word wicked if you will), I now see things differently. Stepping into Kyle’s life gave us a chance to heal the broken places and weave a wholeness with threads of grace.

Carla

Email 

Back