- The first day my granddaughter was brought here,
I took her into the room to show her her crib,
I said this is yours, this is for you.
And she had the biggest smile on her face
and she said thank you Mimi.
And from then on, she can't do anything without her Mimi.
I am Renee, I have three children.
I'm originally from Baltimore, Maryland.
Currently I'm here in Burbank, California
with my daughter Jayelle, who's 12,
and my granddaughter, Skylar, who just turned two.
Parenting a grandchild versus parenting your own child,
the difference is, I have to think about
what would my son want.
How would he want to raise her.
It's not just my decision,
because she's not really my biological child.
Let me show you somethin', who is that?
- [Skylar] Baby.
- A baby.
- [Skylar] Yeah.
- That was Daddy when he was a baby.
Kyle, Uncle Kyle.
This is the obituary for my son.
Gary, he passed away of a heart attack at 28.
He never even wanted to have a child unless
he was there for that child and made sure
that he was a father to that child.
If you look at this face, if you can see it,
it's the same little face that's playin'
with those blocks right there.
She's always going to see every last picture
that I have of her and him.
- Hey Ma, just wanted to say I love you.
Happy Mother's Day, I'm glad that God blessed
me with you in my life.
I'll always will love you.
Happy Mother's Day.
- The good thing about it is he will continuously live
on in Skylar and we talk about Daddy
because she was his light, and his love.
And, I want her to know that, and I'm gonna continue
to let her know that all the days of her life,
how much her Daddy loved her,
and how much she was his princess.
When Gary passed away, I got a call telling me
that my one year old granddaughter had been taken
by Child Protective Services of California.
The law in California had indicated that any child
under the age of three years old,
who was in the foster care,
was automatically up for adoption in six months.
And, I could not have my only grandchild up for adoption,
I would never be able to see her again.
- I'm thinkin' the shrimp.
- Okay, so then you can do the shrimp.
It was emotionally taxing, moving to California.
There is no family, there is no friends,
there is no support.
I don't know where I'm gonna live,
what I'm gonna do.
I had to sacrifice one of the bigger things
being stability, having to uproot my 12 year old daughter.
I have to take her away from her friends.
I have to take her away from her schooling.
As a mom, that was a very difficult decision to make.
I don't know Jay,
I think I might invoke my parental authority.
I don't know if you're gettin' these boots back.
I take it your excited Skylar.
- Yeah, so excited!
- [Renee And Jayelle] You're so excited!
- Yeah!
- Jayelle and I went from just mom and daughter time
to mommy, daughter, grandmom, mommy time.
Sometimes I don't know if Jayelle is the mother
or I'm the mother, but she's so helpful with Skylar.
It's just a blessing.
Mom, you've been runnin' around all day.
Won't you lay down and I'll play with Skylar.
We'll watch some movies and stuff.
Sometimes I just think how in the world did
I get such a beautiful child?
That's my rock, that's my support.
Especially with the passing of my son.
Jayelle's like, you know what Mom, it's okay to cry.
She'll give me a hug and go,
you're a strong mom and I love you.
I've gotta do somethin' to show her
how much I really do appreciate her.
So, Miss Jayelle, you have really been my backbone
and my support, when I'm down you encourage me.
We've gone through a lot together but I so appreciate you.
You're truly just one of the best blessings
that I can every have and I'm so grateful
and I'm so thankful for you.
I know sometimes when you wanna complain,
you don't.
- When we moved to California I did my best to help my mom.
I was her biggest supporter because I wanted her to feel
as safe as possible and I wanted her to know that
anything she needed me to do, I was there to help her,
so that she wouldn't feel like she was doin' this all alone.
And, I wouldn't feel like I'm doin' it alone either
but that we would have each other to depend on.
- I didn't know I was gonna cry.
- And as much as I encourage you, you encourage me.
Any obstacles put in your way you never give up
and I just really appreciate that and I'm glad
I can see that and I can take that from you.
I just want you to know that I love you.
- Why am I cryin'?
- I look at these TV shows and I'm like,
aw they're cryin', that's a beautiful moment
and now we're havin' one.
- I know right.
- That's so cool!
- I know it's like, you wanna go no, stop.
I'm so grateful that she really is resilient
and compassionate and loving.
After having gone through so much
I've had to change my whole understanding
of what family is.
We are constantly shown that a family
has to be the 2.5 kids, the dog, and the white picket fence,
but that's not necessarily family.
Family are all the people around you
who love you to life.