This message comes from NPR's sponsor, Organic Valley, the farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to providing ethically sourced food from small organic family farms.

Discover how you can support local organic farmers at o v. coop slash ethically sourced.

You're listening to Life Kit from NPR. Hey everybody it's it's Mariel. Let me introduce you to two step sisters.

My name is Lisa Garard. I am Kirsten Brant James. So it was the early 70s. 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 step

family, 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

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 and they consider each other

siblings, no prefix needed. When people ask me are you close to your siblings I say yes.

I consider as close. Love them all. Yeah, they're all my siblings. Yeah. If you're a parent trying to

blend your family with your partner's family, this is the dream, right? But the truth is,

it may not happen this way, and it certainly won't happen instantly.

NPR Health Correspondent Maria Gedoy has been reporting on this.

She interviewed Kirsten and Lisa and talked to researchers like Patricia Pappernow who says you've got to take things slowly.

Becoming a step family is a process. It is not an event. It takes time.

That's true for step siblings and it's also true for the relationship between a step

parent and a stepchild. As stepmom, Kylie Thompson puts it.

Step parenting is not a short game. This is a long game. If you're in for the long term with your new

...