The heartwarming video of a Georgia boy asking his mom’s husband to adopt him is proof that families can come in all shapes and sizes. Don Gause is the only father figure 11-year-old Tyler has ever known, yet the 47-year-old is not technically the young man’s dad.
READ: N.C. Family of Five Doubles in Size After ‘Superhero’ Couple Adopts Five Siblings
Don first came into Tyler’s life nearly 10 years ago, when he started dating the boy’s biological mother Marcia. Marcia and Don have since married, and Don raised Tyler as his own, but the fact that the pair were not legally recognized as father and son has weighed heavily on the boy, and he decided it was time to change that.
With the help of his mom, Tyler staged a mock baby shower for Don, complete with an “It’s A Boy” gift bag, which initially led Don to believe his wife was pregnant. Tyler soon entered the room, however, and delivered a touching speech about their unshakable bond that was captured on video by family members in attendance.
“When I was one and half years old, something happened to me: God sent my real daddy to me,” Tyler began. “I knew from the very first time I saw you who you were. You just didn’t know.”
“You kept me when I was sick. Took me to my first day of school. Bought my first bike and taught me how to ride it,” he continued. “You taught me how to count. You correct me when I’m wrong, pick me up when I’m down. You give me what I need.”
As though Tyler’s words weren’t already poignant enough, it then came time for him to get to the heart of the matter and ask Don, who was already in tears, to officially be his dad.
“I know that we were supposed to be father and son. People even say I look like you,” Tyler said emotionally. “Dad, I have been you child from love since I can remember, but I want to be your son legally. Will you please adopt me?”
Don immediately said yes and gave his son a big embrace, before jokingly reprimanding his family for trying to trick him.
Tyler’s mom told Carter News Agency that while she was touched her son wanted to formally ask Don to be his legal dad, she knew her husband already saw himself in that way.
“Tyler was one and a half when Don came into his life, they have always had the relationship of father and son,” she said. “Don had no idea what was going on—we wanted to do it as if it was a baby shower because he always says ‘I wish I could have been there when you had my son.’”
Ultimately, the family knows that paperwork isn’t going to change the bond they have already established, for it is God’s will that brought them all together.
“He is very wise for such a young person and has said before that God sent him the daddy that was really meant for him,” Marcia said of her son. “Don was so overwhelmed by what Tyler said to him, he was crying, Tyler was crying and it’s hard to tell, but we were all crying through the laughs too.”
Watch the sweet moment HERE (warning: there’s a bit of language that some may find offensive).
(H/T: Mirror)