Dear moms,
Blood doesn't make a family.
This is what you've taught me.
Staying here, I've felt like a part of something loving, and kind and accepting.
I've felt like a part of you. Part of this family.
Even though you didn't have to take us in, you did.
And I never thought I'd feel like someone's daughter again.
That I'd feel like I had parents again.
But I do now.
Because blood doesn't make a family.
That is what you've taught me.
Thank you for that.
But there is something else.
Something that I have taught myself.
Law doesn't make a family, either.
Please hear me out.
When I was adopted I was officially welcomed into this family.
For this, I will be forever grateful.
But when I was adopted it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
It just confirmed what I already knew.
That this is my family.
I needed that confirmation. And so I wanted it.
I wanted to be adopted.
I wanted Mariana as my sister.
I wanted Jesus as my brother.
I wanted you as my moms
But I never wanted him as my brother.
He never felt like my brother.
When I was adopted, it didn't confirm that he was my brother.
Because that was never how I felt about him.
But there is a piece of paper telling me that he is.
That he is my brother.
Even though it's a lie.
In my heart it's a lie.
And I have to tell that lie everyday.
If someone told you I wasn't your daughter because I'm not related to you, it would hurt.
Because it would be a truth you didn't feel was true.
When someone tells me he is my brother because the law says so, it hurts.
Because it's a truth I don't feel is true.
Blood doesn't make a family.
Law doesn't make a family.
How you feel about each other makes you a family.
And to me, you are my family.
Brandon isn't my family.
Not in that way.
So stop telling us it's wrong.
That it's gross or.. icky.
Because I did not have sex with my brother.
I had sex with Brandon.
Thanks for giving me a chance to explain,
Callie