Photo of girl, 5, posing with birth dad and 'bonus dad' for father-daughter dance goes viral
Two fathers are going viral for their adorable photo shoot with daughter Willow — and the sweet message they’re sending about co-parenting and blended families.
On Saturday, Dylan Lenox took to Facebook to share some pictures from 5-year-old Willow Megnon’s daddy-daughter dance featuring Lenox as well as David Lewis.
“No we are not a same sex couple, but we do share a daughter,” Lenox, who is engaged to Willow’s mother Sarah Megnon, explained of his relationship to Lewis, who is Sarah’s ex-husband, in the caption. “We have molded ourselves into one unique family, of only for the sake of our children to know the power of love. Not only did I gain a daughter, I gained a brother and a best friend.”
Sarah totally backs this up.
After Sarah — who is a photographer at Willie + Rose Photography — and Lewis split two years into their marriage, they decided to make Willow’s happiness a priority, even when it came to Sarah introducing a new man into their lives.
“I introduced Willow to Dylan when she was 18 months old and he’s been with us ever since,” Sarah tells Yahoo Lifestyle of her now-fiancé. “Dylan told me he fell in love with Willow before me.”
Luckily, Lenox and Lewis quickly fell in love with each other as well.
“Dylan and David have a strong friendship,” she explains. “It’s never a competition with him and Dylan. It’s what is best for Willow. Our daughter is very loved and will continue to know what unconditional love is.”
Even after Lenox and Sarah have started to build their own family together — with Lenox’s 6-year-old son from a previous relationship, 5-year-old Willow and the couple’s only child together, 2-year-old Tatum — Lewis is very much a part of their lives. And Lenox credits that to their priorities as parents.
“When we care more about our children (on both sides of the party) than the way society has taught us to be towards (ex’s/baby mommas/daddy’s) then walls will fall, life will be free of hatred and remorse, and our children will conquer the foolish ‘norms’ that media has shoved in our faces,” Lenox’s post reads. “[Lewis] stays at our home when he visits, because family is always welcome. He is not an outsider, he is and will always be apart of my life for the simple fact that we share the same daughter!”
As for the viral attention from the heartwarming photos, Sarah hopes that it will teach other parents to put aside their own feelings for the sake of their children.
“I hope people take away from this message to show compassion, kindness and love for the sake of your children,” she says. “You have to set that example as a parent.”
Lenox, meanwhile, hopes that among the tens of thousands of people reacting to his Facebook post, there might be someone out there for his co-parent, Lewis.
“FYI David is single,” he added to the post.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
? Photo of multitasking mom caring for infant at work goes viral: ‘She makes it look easy’
? Anne Hathaway gave up drinking for her son after she did a school drop-off with a hangover
? Anti-LGBT group launches petition against Parents magazine for showing same-sex couple on cover
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