Instead of joyfully planning weddings together, my two engaged daughters were always bickering. But when I discovered my<\/p>\n
youngest daughter\u2019s wedding dress destroyed and my stepdaughter standing over it in tears,<\/p>\n
I realized I\u2019d completely misread the signs of what was really happening in our home.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a mother of two: my biological daughter Hannah (22) and my stepdaughter Christine (23). They grew up together after my<\/p>\n
husband passed away years ago, and I\u2019ve always tried my best to hold our blended family together.<\/p>\n
Last year, both girls still lived at home with me \u2014 well, mostly. They spent a good amount of time at their fianc\u00e9s\u2019 places.<\/p>\n
Our house should have been buzzing with the excitement of two upcoming weddings. Instead, the atmosphere grew heavy every<\/p>\n
time Hannah scrolled through wedding ideas on her phone while Christine sat across from her,<\/p>\n
barely hiding her annoyance behind a forced smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at these centerpieces, Mom!\u201d Hannah held up her phone one evening, her blue eyes sparkling. \u201cAren\u2019t they gorgeous?<\/p>\n
They\u2019re doing this thing with floating candles and flower petals. John says it might be over budget,<\/p>\n
but I think we can make it work if we DIY some of the arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christine grabbed her glass and headed to the kitchen. \u201cI need a refill. Because apparently,<\/p>\n
we need to hear about every single wedding detail every single night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Instead of joyfully planning weddings together, my two engaged daughters were always bickering. But when I discovered my youngest daughter\u2019s wedding dress destroyed and my stepdaughter standing… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n