Hey, Ranger:

Yeah, I'm not much into step-folks. One of the things that please me is that my son Pasha from Ruth's first marriage introduces me as his father. I refer to him as my son, and it has felt natural from the beginning for us, even though he was in his late 40's when Ruth and I were married. He was kinda an instant son. The folks at the bank say, "Your son was in here the other day," and that's sweet too because Pasha is black and last time I checked, I was white. Our daughter Dee from Ruth's first marriage has always introduced me as "This is my Mother's husband." That's fine, too. Whatever people honestly feel is fine with me. But, the other night when we were out somewhere, she introduced us as "This is my Mother, and this is Pops." I liked that. I'll take "Pops" any day. Beats Step-Pops.

Jerry