In the spring of 2011, Alexandra Sorice left New York for Montana to attend the wedding of her best friend. As fate would have it, there she met Taylor Sevier, the best friend of the groom, and instantly made a connection. As Alex likes to say, the rest is history. 

While expecting their oldest son, Nicholas, Taylor accepted a promotion in Denham Springs. The next chapter brought some of the roughest years of their lives. They were two years into their marriage, in the middle of buying a house and expecting their second son, Dillon, when doctors diagnosed Nicholas with autism.

Taylor and Alex were quickly growing apart and filed for divorce. Some days, picturing her family’s future felt impossible, she said.

In time, Taylor and Alex got into the rhythm of co-parenting and made new lives for themselves. In 2017, Alex met Tom Aitken, who, having two children of his own, understood Alex’s hectic life. 

With their shared paths uniting them, it wasn’t long before Tom asked Alex to move in with him. She did not take this decision lightly, because it would impact Taylor’s time with their children. Knowing this, she asked Taylor to consider moving to Zachary where everyone could be close, and Taylor agreed.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, what could have driven them apart brought them together. Alex and Tom got engaged and Taylor began dating Rachael, who also has a son. During quarantine,  Rachael and Taylor became their only community and family, erasing the past to create a new blended dynamic. Because of the efforts of everyone involved, their families grew together and established the closeness that still remains to this day. 

Now, in the suburbs of Zachary, the two families thrive. After years of doing what’s best for the five children among them, they have formed a beautiful relationship of trust and respect that allows them to happily do life together. 

They spend holidays, birthdays, and other celebrations as one big family. On Friday nights, they have family dinners, allowing the children to grow up as siblings and the two couples as friends. The blended-family excitedly anticipates spending Christmas together at the Gaylord Opry Resort in Tennessee. 

Often people ask how she’s managed, and Alex says, “Our feelings do not matter, what matters is what is best for the kids 100% of the time.” 

“There are people who co-parent hating each other, there are people who co-parent pretending not to hate each other, and then there are families like mine who really thrive,” she said.

Keeping their eyes fixed on the love they have for their children, Alex and Taylor avoid the selfishness that arises while co-parenting in a blended family. Steadfast in their commitment, only then does a bond like theirs arise, a true testament to the power of a parent’s love for their children. 

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