When you lose a parent, it feels like a piece of you was stolen, never to be found again. The void that a parent’s passing leaves in your life is something immeasurable and, quite frankly, unbearable. It feels criminal when the sun is shining, when you smile in a world they no longer exist in. But with time, you begin to crack a smile, every so often, until the void no longer reminds you of what was lost, but rather, tangible evidence that you have loved someone so deeply.

Then, there comes the possibility of your parent’s «replacement». In knowing that nobody will ever come close to the role that your departed parent had, any effort someone makes to fill that role angers you more than you could ever express. You don’t want another adult’s last name. You don’t want to call them «Mom» or «Dad». Though you might be young, your opinion still matters; when you turn 18, you can shed the life you were forced into.

That’s exactly what the teen in this next story chooses to do. The 18-year-old boy lost his father, and then his mother remarried. He did not consider this man a stepfather and did not want to change his last name. Now, as a legal adult, he’s choosing to reclaim his power and drop his stepfather’s last name. His mother? Furious. Scroll to read the full story.