I had the most amazing experiences at my stepson's wedding.

The wedding took place on a coastal New England island. The guests took the ferry over. It was a short walk to the beautiful inn where the wedding was being held.

As I walked into the reception hall, I immediately saw my stepson's mother who was near the door. When she saw me she smiled and said:

"I want to thank you for the great job you did raising him."

We hugged and I cried and we began speaking enthusiastically about him and his wonderful bride. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life.

Copyright 2016 Anna Breslin

The last time I saw her was at his college graduation when she barely acknowledged my existence. So it was a surprising and welcome change. I never competed with her. I always encouraged my son's relationship with his mother. When he was angry at her, which wasn't often, I always talked him out of it. I never let him form any resentments towards her. My stepson's father (now my ex-husband) had a few disputes with her that had to be resolved in court years ago, so there was always some tension between the two families because of that.

The legal disputes kept us from being friendly, let alone friends. So when she was so kind and loving towards me, I was deeply affected. I had expected her to ignore me again. But instead, she treated me like a sister. We were sister mothers.

She insisted that I sit next to her at dinner. We were both so happy and it was lovely to share the day with her. It made sense to be with her because we were both mothers of the groom. We were both divorced from the same man. The legal disputes were in the past. It was a day of love and celebration.

Our son's happiness was all that mattered. We were both feeling very proud and joyful.

All of my former in-laws were loving and kind to me. My ex-husband was okay, it was a little difficult for me to speak to him because we had not stayed in touch and our break up had some painful moments but I had no angry feelings towards him. There was a moment when it became more than a little difficult to speak to him but one of my brothers-in-law seemed to recognize that I was not feeling happy and came over to join our conversation and that gesture of his was also very moving. I felt so cared for that day. I felt like my in-laws were still family. I hadn't seen them in years but I loved them as much as ever and the feeling seemed mutual.

I had expected her to ignore me again. But instead, she treated me like a sister. We were sister mothers.

Everyone was talking about what a great job I did with my son. Even my ex-husband's current girlfriend told me that's all she's ever heard about me. I usually just blow it off. But about a month ago my son told me that if I had come into his life two years later than I did, it would have been too late for him. That astounded me.

I seem to have almost total amnesia about how difficult my kid's behaviors were when he was little. His parents' divorce was very difficult for him. I guess it was because I always felt such unconditional love for him that the difficult times are not as memorable as the happiness I have in being a part of his life.

So, I do know I made a difference in his life. My son is an amazing human being ― even if I wasn't his mother, I'd say that. He does so many wonderful things in the world and he's very kind and giving. I don't need anyone to give me credit though. All I ever wanted was his happiness. I'm selfish, his happiness is my joy so I only want to see his happiness maximized.

My son makes my life make sense. All the pain I experienced in my own childhood made it possible for me to parent him and meet his unique needs when he was having a difficult time. Raising him healed me at a soul level. And all the good he does in the world further heals me.

My son makes my life make sense. ... Raising him healed me at a soul level. And all the good he does in the world further heals me.

It's an amazing thing. You never know the meaning of your journey in life until you hit certain points along your path and then you can look back and see that the painful moments were really necessary. I learned so much from those moments. I find that I cannot wish that my life was different. It was just the way it needed to be. Realizing this, I feel in touch with a greater perfection and I feel moved by that perfection.

When I looked at my son on is wedding day, I saw his love and his joy at being married to his beautiful, fantastic wife. I saw in him the exact same spirit I saw in him the very first day I met him when he was just eight years old.

I feel like all I ever did was see who he is and then reflect that back to him until he finally saw it too and became the man he was always meant to be.

So it was a perfect day. It was a beautiful day in every way imaginable. It was a bit of a challenge to go to the wedding on my own, but I embraced it. I wore a great red dress and when my son and I danced, we owned the dance floor. This was our song:

This essay was originally published at Medium.