Anniversary...

I have restarted this post about fourteen times. I want to write about my wonderful stepmother Andrea and why we love her and how very, very grateful I am that my dad married her.

How do I sum up a woman like Andrea? Impossible. She's the kind of stepmother everyone should  be lucky enough to have. She listens, but does not preach. She likes junk and murder mysteries.  She laughs at my jokes.

Her best quality, the quality that lets me know that I hit the jackpot of stepmothers is her Nana-ness. From the moment that she met my kids, each as babies, she has loved them and nurtured them.

Every day Rebecca calls Nana on the phone.

"Hi Nana! How are you? Whatcha doing?" Rebecca begins, and before long they are chatting away.

Rebecca and Andrea tell each other long stories about Rebecca's bad monkey named Fred and a set of bear siblings who live at Nana's house. Rebecca likes to plan punishments for the bad animals and concocts elaborate reward schemes to promote good animal behavior. Nana provides the voices for most of the troubled beasts and my dad suggests new high jinks for the animals to engage in.

When the kids were little Andrea and my dad would come visit us and spend hours on the floor with the girls. They would hold them as babies, play peek-a-boo and do arts and craft projects. When the girls were babies Andrea would come and stay with us whenever David would travel. She'd walk Lily around in the sling until she fell asleep and then hold her, giving me a chance to catch my breath and paint the woodwork.

She's our go-to baby sitter, our story teller and soon, our dog sitter. Our family got brighter the day she came into our lives and her presence has made us all better people.

Today is the wedding anniversary of my Dad and Andrea, and the anniversary of the best fairy stepmother the world has ever seen.

Happy Anniversary Nana and Pepere- we love you!