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We...

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Some say culture is defined by race, others say it is the customs of your native land. I say that one's culture is an entirety of being; the fine mixture of ethnicity, and ancestry. Of the here and now, of past and future. Of experience and dreams. Of hope.

I... I was born the third daughter of a military officer in '72. I grew up in different places where the differences in people were as grains of sand. I was the latchkey girl. I was confused; a passionate child searching for a passionate world, yet also searching for the day-in and day-out of something solid to hang on to. I was much an adult when I finally decided what to believe in and how to define myself, every facet of me a bright petal of the rose: I am a woman. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a daughter. I am a sister... The final petal stands alone. I am a writer.

He... He was born in '49 and he pretended he was the Lone Ranger. His childhood friend was his horse, and his work ethic was taught by his dad. He knew things as cut and dried, and only later did he seek to find clarity. He bought a newspaper, and scraped to make it happen every week. He raised a family that left him to find their own definition within the world. He lost his father and he lost his passion for a lot of things. But he never lost his faith. His life simply began again. He gave me my first real job. He was my mentor. He became my friend. Then... He became the love of my life.

We... We made headlines of our own, we were the small-town scandal for a season. A May to December romance that no one believed could happen and said could never last. But we knew ourselves and we knew each other. We knew what we wanted and We became Us against all odds.

They... They were my daughters from a teenage relationship that never matured. Products of a broken home. They were a portion of my DNA, my sun, moon and stars, the very best of me in two separate people. And they became a part of his heart, although his blood did not course through their veins. Some might say he gave his heart to them simply out of love for me. But I know different. They won his heart all on their own.

The copyright of the article We... in Multicultural Family is owned by Susan Culver. Permission to republish We... in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.