Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
· collected 2026-09-05 · by Kellie Floyd
The author reflects on their relationship with their stepdad, who they say defied the negative connotations often associated with the term. They describe him as a quiet and caring presence in their life, who made small gestures of love and support over the years. The article does not provide specific numbers or key statistics, but instead focuses on anecdotes and personal experiences to illustrate the author's point. From a young age, the author saw their stepdad as a loving and supportive figure, and he played an important role in many milestones in their life, including teaching them how to drive and walking them down the aisle at their wedding.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Some words come with preconceived ideas attached, built from personal experiences or the stories society tells.
asserted
society → come → experiences
Beyond its dictionary definition, this word often carries a negative connotation.
asserted
word → carry → connotation
As a little girl, I’d lie on my stomach, chin in my hands, close enough to the television to disappear into its stories: Snow White, Cinderella and other Disney fairytales.
asserted
I → lie → stories
In each, the step-parent was a villain, driven by greed and jealousy.
asserted
parent → drive → greed
It’s no wonder the word stepdad carried baggage long before I met one.
asserted
I → ’ → one
There are many men (and women) who quietly step into families already formed.
asserted
who → be → families
They may not witness the birth or hear the first word, but they choose to be there for all the milestones still to come.
uncertain
they → witness → milestones
My own stepdad was one of them, and he was nothing like the characters I’d watched on the screen.
asserted
I → watch → screen
We were introduced to him when I was nine and my sister was six.
asserted
sister → introduce → him
I can’t imagine trying to date with two kid tag-alongs, but we were often there.
asserted
we → imagine → alongs
A picnic in the park, a bike ride along the Yarra River – he would encourage us to go “just a little bit further” with lolly snakes and Tim Tams.
asserted
he → encourage → snakes
Here, he’d talk about the 1930s art deco building housing the eatery while we sat nibbling on our french fries.
asserted
we → talk → fries
As I moved into my teens, I met friends who also had a step-parent.
asserted
who → move → parent
They would sometimes ask, “So, how’s your stepdad?” in a tone that suggested they were hoping I’d have a horror story to share.
uncertain
I → ask → story
Their assumption was that life with a stepdad was difficult, so I began dropping “step” from introductions.
asserted
I → begin → introductions
Not as a replacement for my biological father, but because that little four-letter prefix didn’t describe the relationship we had.
asserted
we → describe → relationship
A secret trip to Officeworks so we could buy Mum a Mother’s Day gift: a Looney Tunes mouse pad and stationery set.
uncertain
we → buy → gift
Every birthday, the perfect book would appear; he always knew what I’d like to read before I did.
asserted
I → appear → what
From the very first cocooning hug from my new grandparents, there was an unspoken promise that my sister and I would always belong.
asserted
sister → cocoon → grandparents
He taught me to drive a stick shift in his little red Ford Laser.
asserted
He → teach → Laser
I dropped the clutch too fast, sending the car into a full burnout that left tyre marks on our suburban backstreet for months.
asserted
that → drop → months
The laughter only stopped once I’d bunny-hopped to a stop in our driveway.
asserted
I → stop → driveway
He also walked me down the aisle.
asserted
He → walk → aisle
It wasn’t because I loved my biological father any less, but because he’d been there for the everyday moments that quietly shaped my life: carrying me into emergency with a suspected broken leg; helping build a papier-mâché volcano for school; making me a wooden remembrance cross after a young friend died.
asserted
friend → love → school
He’d wager a chocolate bar on what his mum was cooking for our Friday night family dinners, collect me from late shifts at Target, and dance with me at my debutante despite having absolutely no rhythm whatsoever.
asserted
mum → wager → rhythm
It wasn’t until a colleague made an offhand remark in my early 20s that I realised just how fortunate I was.
asserted
I → make → 20s
“You’re so lucky to have so many people who love you,” she said.
asserted
she → ’re → you
I didn’t just have my mum and my dad’s families.
asserted
I → have → families
I gained an entire extra family, who chose to love us as their own.
asserted
who → gain → own
From the very first cocooning hug from my new grandparents, there was an unspoken promise that my sister and I would always belong.
asserted
sister → cocoon → grandparents
In my late 20s, I underwent emergency surgery.
asserted
I → undergo → surgery
With my husband overseas, I returned to my childhood home to recover.
asserted
I → return → home
One afternoon, looking for a book, I wandered into my stepdad’s home office.
asserted
I → look → office
Between his Mac computer, scattered papers and shelves filled with fine china sat a handwritten Post-it note with a single word: endometriosis.
asserted
note → scatter → word
It was what my surgeon had found.
asserted
surgeon → find → what
I don’t think he’d heard the term before.
asserted
he → think → term
I imagine Mum had called him from the hospital, and he’d written it down so he could look it up later, to quietly understand my pain.
uncertain
he → imagine → pain
He could have left that for just Mum to comprehend, but instead he made it his business to learn how to care for me.
uncertain
it → leave → me
For him, that meant hearty, gentle-on-the-stomach Jamie Oliver soups and stews, cooked without fuss but with much love.
asserted
that → mean → love
I always hoped to have a son who could carry his name.
uncertain
who → hop → name
…and 7 more, not listed.
