Jonathan Van Ness
Getty“When someone takes you on as their own when you’re not biologically their own, I think is really special....[My stepdad] didn’t have to raise me. He wanted to.”
2Justin Timberlake
Getty“My stepdad is probably the greatest man I’ve ever known. The best advice I’ve ever been given was when he told me to enjoy my life, because one day I’m not going to be as agile as I am now.”
3Jim Valvano
Getty“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: He believed in me.”
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4Frederick Buechner
Getty“You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but...you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”
5Delia Ephron
Getty Images“If you are a stepparent, rush right out and get yourself a dog. Because it’s very nice to have someone in the house that loves you.”
6Flea
Getty Images“I got my love of jazz from my stepfather, who was a jazz musician.”
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7Antoine-François Prévost
Getty Images“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.”
8Isabel Allende
Country Living"My father left when I was three, and I have no memory of him. The most significant male figures in my life were my grandfather, in whose house I lived during the first 10 years of my childhood, and later my stepfather."
9Bruce Linton
Country Living"Becoming a father is a challenge to any man's psyche and there is a fundamental reorganization that you cannot avoid when you begin this journey."
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10Unknown
Country Living"A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again."
11Valerie J. Lewis Coleman
Country Living"Step-parenting is like working at a late-night convenience store...all of the responsibility and none of the authority."
12Unknown
Country Living"A child cannot have too many people who love them and want to help them succeed."
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13Unknown
Design: Rebekah Lowin"A stepparent is so much more than just a parent: They made the choice to love when they didn't have to."
14Brian Urlacher
Design: Rebekah Lowin"My mom is my heart. But my stepdad was my role model, the hardest working man I ever knew."
15Wade Boggs
Design: Rebekah Lowin"Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that's why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right."
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16Al Hodson
Design: Rebekah Lowin"The only steps in this house are the stair steps and the only half in this house is the half & half creamer."
17Abraham Lincoln
Design: Rebekah Lowin"No man stands taller than when he stoops to help a child."
18Unknown
Design: Rebekah Lowin"A stepfather means so many things... an understanding heart, a source of strength, and of support, right from the very start."
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19Unknown
Design: Rebekah Lowin"A good stepparent can literally turn the life of a child around."
20Ray Johnson
Design: Rebekah Lowin"It takes a strong man to accept somebody else's children and step up to the plate another man left on the table."
Madoline Markham is the assistant managing editor for Country Living, where she covers shopping, home decor, news, and culture.
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