We just watched "The Blind Side" again the other night. Man, I love that movie. It's sweet and it's heartfelt and it's about sports. That just about equals perfect in my book. You'd think that, by now, I'd be past choking up when Sandra Bullock says "Shame on you." Or when Collins is sitting outside of the room listening to her mamma read Ferdinand out loud to the boys. (Creighton loved that book. He made me read it over and over.) If anything, I get sappier each time I see it.
I'm tempted, when people don't understand my life, to tell them to rent "The Blind Side." When Mamma's friends tell her, "You're changing that boy's life," she replies, "No. He's changing mine." See, when you love kids, you love them all the way. There's no halvsies in parenting. This week, with Melody in the hospital, I became very aware of how many people really don't understand that. "Well, at least it's not one of yours that's sick," a well meaning acquaintance said. When I corrected her, another gal chimed in, "it's not like they've lived with you since they were little." Even the kids' mom, discussing Melody, Chris and Dharma attending Creighton's birthday, said "Of course he should have his friends at his party."
To all y'all who don't understand, hear this: They are ALL mine. All five kids. Yes, they have a mom. They have a Lezli, too. And I'm damn good at being a Lezli, let me tell you. It does not matter in the slightest if they came out of my uterus, or what age they were when they came to live at my house. When you love kids, you love them, and they become one of "yours." And those kids are NOT Creighton's friends. They are his siblings, and we take that very seriously around here. If you don't believe me, or if you think it's not possible... Just go rent "The Blind Side."Labels: family, kids, Lezli Goodwin, Michael Oher, step, The Blind Side