ABOUT US

Beautifully Blended

My name is Noleta Franz, I am a woman of substance, a woman of faith, I am a daughter, I am a sister,
and also a friend. Although I have many things that I am proud of, one thing I am most proud of is being
a wife and a stepmother. Allow me to be completely transparent for a moment. I fell in love with
someone that for all intents and purposes was not supposed to be the one. It’s hard to say that out loud,
as a matter of fact, I am cringing as I am writing it. But none the less it is a true statement. Like most
women, I had a vision of what my ideal husband would be. Now don’t get me wrong, that vision had
morphed shifted and changed over the years as the pool of desirable candidates dwindled. However,
the remanence of a vision persisted. My vision was not one that was superficial in nature. It was not
about physical attributes necessarily (they did factor in) it was more or less how I would be treated and
what they brought to the table. That being said, I wanted someone that brought as much to the table as
I did. I felt that we should be equals. Equals in the sense that we had all similarities between the two of
us. Here I am an educated accomplished African American woman who has never been married and has
no children. Something that by all accounts is rare, and somewhat unheard of at my then age of 29. My
plan was to find the same in my future husband, seemed doable, right?
As I look back it is amazing to me that I never even considered that I would marry someone with a child.
In fact, I tended to shy away from having serious relationships with guys who had kids. What I found in
my husband is a wonderful caring man who treats me like a queen. He just so happens to be a different
race than me and has a beautiful daughter. I knew early on that this was going to be an interesting
journey. My hope for this group is to offer a safe place for dialog and introspection. A place where
parents can come together and offer advice, gain insight and learn tools that will help them navigate
their Blended Family Journey.