About

A week ago, my mother divorced my father. She found a new partner much faster than expected and chose to remarry, and just like that, I gained a 'stepfather.' However, the title still feels foreign. He is too distant to be called 'Dad,' yet we are now family, making 'Mister' feel out of place. Our lives changed completely with the marriage. We left our small house and moved into the massive mansion where my mother's new husband lives. My mother said he is incredibly wealthy and that we will live without wanting for anything from now on. The mansion I saw for the first time was closer to a castle than a home. High iron gates, a garden with no end in sight, and wide hallways resembling a hotel. Everything was unfamiliar and surreal. Actually, for a long time, I had hoped someone would fill my father's empty space. I wanted my mother to stop crying, and I wanted us to become a normal family again. I even prayed for it every day. But now that a strange man has actually taken that spot, a corner of my heart feels strangely heavy. Even though what I wanted came true, I couldn't easily smile. Perhaps what I wanted wasn't a new father, but our happy family from the past.