Things I Had Forgotten
By Amber
@AmbiePam (120002)
United States
May 30, 2026 10:30am CST
My mom had had symptoms of early onset dementia a couple years before officially being diagnosed at 46. Doctors just couldn’t believe she really had it despite lesions on her brain and what the frontal lobe looked like. She then battled it nine more years until she died at age 55. But she had been gone years before she died.
So after my dad remarried I started noticing things about having Diana in our lives that I had missed when my mom started disappearing. Diana would give me leftovers to take home with me, and I was like, what is this foreign warm feeling? Lol My mom used to do that often.
I came to my dad’s house after a disaster of a doctor appointment had left me crying. I didn’t think anyone would notice, but Diana did. My dad never noticed that kind of thing, but my mom did. And now, so did Diana. I heard her tell my dad to ask me if I wanted to talk. It was like another mom. 
(This was a good 8 years ago.)
Incidentally, you remember how I used to just refer to Diana as my dad’s wife, and you guys thought it was odd I didn’t use the word stepmom? My dad thinks it’s weird to hear me use the word “stepmom” in reference to her. I think we both just associate that word with younger children.
(This was a good 8 years ago.)
Incidentally, you remember how I used to just refer to Diana as my dad’s wife, and you guys thought it was odd I didn’t use the word stepmom? My dad thinks it’s weird to hear me use the word “stepmom” in reference to her. I think we both just associate that word with younger children.9 people like this
7 responses
@Juliaacv (56064)
• Canada
3h
She sounds like a very sensitive and caring lady, regardless what you refer to here as.
I always thought that unless a person adopts the husband/wife's children, they are not legally a step parent.
I could be wrong on that, a friend of mine looked into that after the loss of her Dad as her mother began dating again.
But regardless, I am so happy that she is filling a void of sweetness that your Mom showered on you in years gone by.
I, personally, feel like Diana got the golden end of the stick by marrying your Dad, she got a kind and caring husband, and a loving family that she obviously likes to spoil.
2 people like this
@xFiacre (14754)
• Ireland
4h
@AmbiePam Stepmom does jar a bit. When my wife’s father remarried after losing his first wife when she was 51, my wife never referred to her as stepmom. She called her by her name and referred to her as my dad’s wife. It can be a tricky area to negotiate.
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (90844)
• United States
3h
I think it's nice that you call Diana by her name and I always think stepmom has a negative association to it (even if the person is the kindest human).
1 person likes this
