You're listening to life kit from NPR.
Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
Let me introduce you to two stepsisters.
My name is Lisa Gerard.
I am Kirsten Brandt James.
So it was the early seventies.
Lisa's dad and Kirsten's mom were both widowed, and they had three kids each.
Yeah, kind of like the Brady bunch.
The parents were old friends from school.
They started dating one summer, and then they got married in two months.
I was shocked.
It was shocking to us as well.
Kirsten had to move from her home in California to Texas, live in a new house with a new stepfamily, go to a new school.
I cried.
I think we were upset.
Yeah, it was like, you're kidding me.
You're ruining my life.
We weren't going anywhere.
But it was still shocking to us.
But 50 years later, these step siblings are super close, all six of them video chat every week to catch up.