21.
And finally, “My dad was a senior when my mom was a sophomore. My dad was practically Danny freaking Zuko. My mom was a total dork with awesome, poofy curls and Coke-bottle glasses. My dad used to pay her to do his homework. My mom married a total piece of crap (she calls him her practice husband) and had my brother two years before becoming pregnant with me. She couldn’t handle the trauma that he was putting them through and ran away. She got an apartment in the town she went to high school in. One night, she was having a particularly difficult time and ordered a pizza for dinner. When the pizza guy showed up, my mom threw little me into his arms and said, ‘Will you hold this please?’ while she chased my brother around the apartment.”
“This poor man stood there with an infant in his arms, in the middle of pure chaos. I’ve been told he fell in love with me right then and there, and my mom about 20 minutes later. I still have the pizza jacket he was wearing. They dated for two years before she finally agreed to marry him. They’ve been happily married for 28 years.
He was working at the pizza chain and going to school to become a teacher. He has so many diplomas and degrees that I can’t even keep track. My mom, too, thanks to his influence. He saved us. He married my mom when I was 2 years old and adopted my brother and I when I was 8. They now live in total paradise, on 80 acres of land in the woods with their three dogs. He’s teaching auto at the local community college. Apparently, his shop teacher inspired him and somehow convinced him that he could make his life into whatever he wanted it to be, and he made it his goal to be that inspiration for kids. He and my mother are very happy living the lives they built for themselves.”