Ode to the stepfather

I found out Tuesday morning I was an orphan.

The last of my four parents had passed away quietly at 5:45 a.m. Although I had been warned by a nurse the day before my stepfather’s end was possibly approaching, I was positive he would rally as he has done before. I was reinforced in my belief all would be fine when my sister, Michelle, saw him on Monday and talked to him for about an hour.

My stepfather, Stuart, has been in my life since I was little over 5 years old when both my parents remarried. I don’t really remember my biological parents being together very much, but I never felt like I mi...