“I had a rough childhood with a lot of ups and downs, but when I was in high school, I met the woman who would become my mother-in-law. She showed me how things could be different and how I could make a better life for myself. She did things with me, talked with me, and treated me like I was her daughter. One of the most important things she did was to teach me how to think for myself. She’d say: ‘Do you want to do this or do you want to do that? Have you thought about this and this and this?’ If a decision didn’t turn out well, she’d say, ‘I didn’t want to tell you what to do, but I figured something like this might happen.’ I’m so glad she came into my life because she helped me grow up. I had always tried to do everything on my own without anybody's help, but she taught me that it was all right to ask for help when I needed it. I made my mistakes, but before I got in too deep, she'd snatch me out. She told me, ‘You’re going to make mistakes. That’s just life.’ I learned so much from her that I’m using now to raise my own kids. I’m teaching them how to think through their decisions just like she taught me. She tells me, 'You finished high school, you have a great job, and I'm so proud of you.' She’s been both a mother and a mother-in-law to me. She’s awesome.”
Brittley's mother-in-law (photo courtesy of Brittley):