Credit: SWNS / Steve Bourdo
A woman gave a speech on her ex-husband's wedding day addressed to his new partner - and the pair get along and have dinners together.
Leah Bourdo, 39, read the emotional speech to her ex-husband Steve Bourdo’s new wife, Shonda, 35, on their wedding day in July 2023.
Steve, 38, and Leah have two daughters together, Kennedy, 13, and Harper, 11, and have worked hard to be able co-parent well.
When the pair divorced in January 2016, they didn’t speak for four years and could only communicate through email and Leah’s parents.
After letting it all out in a conversation, they decided to "forgive each other" and now have a "sibling-like relationship".
A woman gave a speech on her ex-husband's wedding day addressed to his new partner - and the pair get along and have dinners together.
Leah Bourdo, 39, read the emotional speech to her ex-husband Steve Bourdo’s new wife, Shonda, 35, on their wedding day in July 2023.
Steve, 38, and Leah have two daughters together, Kennedy, 13, and Harper, 11, and have worked hard to be able co-parent well.
When the pair divorced in January 2016, they didn’t speak for four years and could only communicate through email and Leah’s parents.
After letting it all out in a conversation, they decided to "forgive each other" and now have a "sibling-like relationship".
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 A letter to his new wife.
00:02 Tomorrow we will have the same last name.
00:06 For those of you who don't know, I'm still bored away. I can't get a last name.
00:09 [laughter]
00:11 A last name that I took long before I knew what it really meant to be married.
00:15 A last name that I still have because I've learned what it really means to take someone's last name.
00:22 A last name I'd only consider changing again if I was absolutely certain it was forever.
00:27 But most importantly, it's the last name that's shared by two special little girls named Kennedy and Harlan.
00:36 [laughter]
00:39 I'm shaking.
00:40 You see, I never planned on being mom one of two.
00:45 I never dreamed that I would have to share such an important role with someone else.
00:51 There was a time when the thought of watching him build a life with someone else would have been an absolutely devastating state.
00:57 Let alone to witness him ask someone else to be his wife.
01:01 There was a time when civil co-parenting seemed impossible, let alone being able to form a friendship built on mutual love for our daughters.
01:09 But all of that, with those things that seemed absolutely impossible, became a reality when you came into our lives.
01:19 Long before he found you, I was praying for you.
01:23 I prayed first for someone who would love our daughters just as much as I do.
01:29 I prayed for someone who they could trust and count on and who they knew would have their backs no matter what.
01:36 I prayed for someone who understood the concept of putting the kids first and why it had to be the driving force behind every decision we made.
01:45 I prayed for someone to make him truly happy because I know our girls needed and deserved to see what a happy marriage looked like.
01:52 Lastly, I prayed that she would be secure enough in herself and her relationship with him that she would be okay with the co-parenting relationship we now had.
02:02 Because it took us years to build.
02:04 Not only were my prayers answered when you came along, my expectations were defeated so many ways.
02:13 It's hard to believe you're even a real person.
02:16 I've told you this before and I'll tell you again, but I couldn't have handpicked a better woman to step into this role.
02:25 So now I just want to thank you. Thank you for loving our girls like they were your own.
02:31 Thank you for respecting the relationship that him and I had for the girls.
02:39 Thank you for being willing to have a relationship with me that has grown into a friendship.
02:44 Thank you for taking an active role in their upbringing and being the voice of reason when tough decisions had to be made on their behalf.
02:52 And finally, thank you for not trying to replace me, but instead becoming absolutely irreplaceable.
02:59 Welcome to the home team, Bonus Mom.
03:02 Thank you.
03:03 [applause]
03:06 [music]
03:11 [MUSIC]