Zack is my son

Zack is my son. This will seem a strange statement to some of those who know us well because Zack is no longer with us on Earth, having lost his battle with Glioblastoma Multiforme on December 27, 2003. In addition, those who know us very well will know that Zack was actually my stepson, although none of us ever thought of it that way. But those two facts don't matter. Zack is my son.

He is as present with our family today as before. We know where he is and we know that we will see him again. The reason that we have this confidence is what this book, Update on Zack, is mostly about. We have this promise because of what Christ did for us on the cross - he gave his life so that we may have life eternal. And because of this wonderful gift of grace, we know that Zack is alive, albeit in spirit form and in Heaven. So you see, he is my son, present tense.

As for the other detail, it matters very little that I did not give birth to Zack. I have been his mother since he was 5 1/2, and I was the one of the two parents, Ken being the other, who got him through his teen years. As anyone who's raised teens knows, you do that, you're his mom. Also, and most importantly, since I came into his life he had always called me Mommy and to him, I was his mom. So close were we that there are folks reading this now, who've known us for years, that all this step stuff is news to. We never thought of ourselves that way and so no one else did either.