Danelle is my step daughter, the second of five daughters. For nine long years she was kept out of my life and my husband's (her father's) life due to a bitter divorce. Her 14th birthday was the last one we spent with her. On her 15th birthday we bought her a doll, even though we couldn't give it to her. I kept it in my closet for those nine years.

This past April we were overjoyed when Danelle came back into our lives. As I began to reconnect with her I noticed that she had never lost her love of cooking. This made me smile. Although she had lost so much in her life, I was glad to know she had been able to keep her passion for this important thing she loved to do. As we reconnected, she told me of all the FFA Food shows we had missed over the years where she had placed for the star quality food she prepared. I began to bring up memories of her cooking when she was small. The first time her Daddy brought her sisters and brother over to my apartment when we were dating, she helped me make chocolate chip cookies. Even at a young age, she began to notice that people got happy when you lifted a pan of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. Just the aroma made them smile. Later, it made her feel special when someone complimented the punch bowl cake that she and her Grammy prepared for a summer gathering. Throughout the rest of our time together, if her Dad and I were cooking in the kitchen, she was there helping.

Danelle now has two children of her own and loves them with a true mothering nature. She loves to cook for them and I am proud of her for seeing how important it is to care for her children by preparing healthy meals. As we began to share our memories of recipes, she started to ask if she could have a copy of them. I had remembered an email I had received from Picaboo regarding recipe pages so I sat down and started making a memory book for Danelle.

As our family was being put back together again this year, we decided that Danelle's birthday would be the perfect time for everyone to get together. Amusingly, her birthday celebration was set for July 14th which we thought was perfect since her 14th birthday was the last one we celebrated together. We invited grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, they all were there. I was finally able to give her the doll I had been saving all those years along with the Picaboo cookbook I had created for her. These were the first birthday presents we were able to give her in nine years. She had a celebration that a young teenage girl would love along with a celebration that a 23 year old young woman would cherish. I even prepared recipes from her cookbook for the occasion.

It has been one month since the big event and she has made every recipe in her cookbook for her family. She loves the photos of herself when she was little and says she has an heirloom to pass down to our granddaughter Sadie. In creating this memory for her and handing down something she has a passion for, I believe I have made our relationship stronger. I think it has helped her know how much her step mother loves her. After all, I have never considered her my step daughter, but simply, my daughter.