"Raising the Stepkids (overview)"

Raising those 4 kids was a real trip. I was married to their father for 8 years. 
We got custody abruptly because of neglect and abuse by their mother. The oldest 
was 9 and the youngest 3, and we'd been married less than a year when I went from 
mother of zero to mother of four overnight. "Chris" was a real comedian. At 9 years 
old (third grade) he already outweighed me. By the time of the divorce he was 
over 450 pounds (that was a high as the scale went at the bariatric specialist). 
Their mother was part Polynesian, so Chris looked like a classic Samoan. Even 
with all his weight, he was quite athletic. All the kids took karate a couple 
of years later, and Chris could do side kicks head high. Because of his weight, 
he had to compete with the adults--at age eleven! "Renee", the oldest girl (one 
year behind Chris), looked like an Indian princess--long straight dark hair and 
a natural tan. "Anne", at five, had curly light brown hair and dimples (folks 
always said, "oh this one takes after you"). She was a natural chameleon, she 
could fit in anywhere. I think she would also make a natural con artist--that 
girl could be thrown in a ditch and come up with diamonds in her teeth. The 
youngest, "Bobby", at three years old, was a total charmer. Curly blond hair, 
dimples, big blue eyes with the longest eyelashes I've ever seen (folks always 
thought he took after me too--it must be the dimples!). He loved to clomp 
around in his little cowboy boots. Their dad had some Cherokee somewhere in 
his ancestry--showing up mainly in his long-waisted physique. He was one of 
those kids that was towheaded till his teens, when his hair abruptly turned 
coal black. The first date that I had with their dad where he brought the kids 
along, Bobby climbed up in my lap and said "will you be my mommy?" He and Anne 
fought over who got to sit next to me. Renee was stand offish and stuck by her 
father. Chris didn't care where he sat, as long as he got to eat.

c. 2008, B. Riley