“I feel badly for my kids and stepkids during the holidays,” Amber, a stepmom explained. “They are shuffled between homes, unfamiliar traditions, and new stepfamily members. I can tell it’s stressful for them. I wish there was something I could do to make it easier.” Amber recognizes the complexities and tension the holidays can stir…
Author: Laura Petherbridge
Death in a Stepfamily
Mark was my father’s wife’s son from a previous marriage and legally became my father’s child after the adoption. Dad and my first stepmom got divorced several years after the adoption. Over the years all of us became adults and went our separate ways. I had very little contact with my stepbrothers, or my half-brother, after my father’s second marriage dissolved. Until this moment.

