'We are the adults': Dad and step-dad pose with daughter before father-daughter dance
"The love for the children should prevail over all else."
It's a fairly common family dynamic. A little girl, her divorced parents and her mom's fiance.
Less common is the love the four people -- and in particular the three adults in the situation -- have for one another.
In a Facebook post that's been shared 130,000 times, a little girl named Willow Mengon is headed to a daddy-daughter dance. She's pictured with her dad, David Mengon, and her mom's fiancee, Dylan Lenox.
Mom Sarah Mengon is behind the camera snapping the now-viral photos.
"Dylan and I are always just goofy around her to make her laugh and smile during photos so it just happened to look like we framed her," David Mengon told "Good Morning America."
The relationship between the three adults wasn't always as positive as it is today.
We have molded ourselves into one unique family, if only for the sake of our children to know the power of love.
"It was challenging, nothing was easy, but we knew if we wanted to make things work we needed to swallow any feelings we had for one another and put Willow first," David Mengon said.
"It was hard at first but the longer we got to know each other things just slowly started to fall into place," he said. "It took a lot of patience, work and love for our daughter to overcome any personal feelings we had."
Mengon told "GMA" that parents who are struggling getting along with their ex's new spouses should "never stop working" at it.
"They [the child or children] didn’t ask to be here, and for whatever reason things failed among the adults, you can’t let your child see that. So be compassionate, be patient, and remember that no matter what, the love for the children should prevail over all else."
Dylan Lenox, Willow's soon-to-be stepfather, called Mengon "family" in his Facebook post.
"We have molded ourselves into one unique family, if only for the sake of our children to know the power of love," Lenox wrote. "Not only did I gain a daughter, I gained a brother and a best friend. He stays at our home when he visits, because family is always welcome."
Mengon agreed. He said, "Put your faith and love ahead of personal feelings. We are the adults and need to remember that."
Editor's Note: This story was originally published on January 23, 2019.
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