From Lauren Hernandez was one, her mother's partner, Joe, has been her only father figure.
In this emotional video that surfaced last week, the now 18-year-old high school graduate surprised him by giving him a gift-wrapped box containing adoption papers as she asked him to officially become her legal father.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPCoLvqjvLc
The clip, filmed July in Chicago, shows Hernandez, on the day of her high school graduation party, surprising her mother's long-term partner, Joe Losco, by giving him a beautifully wrapped gift box.
As it turns out when you watch the video, the box does not only contain a framed poem written by Lauren to the man who has looked after her as if she was his own daughter for 17 years, but also a stack of adoption papers.
There's a long silence as Joe works out what it is she's asking him, then without saying a word he turns to embrace her before loosing all composure and sinking to the ground visibly moved by Lauren's gesture.
"I'm asking him to adopt me', she can he overheard telling the assembled guests through her tears, as Joe nods and says yes.
To a local radio station, Joe said: "'It was one of the best things I’ve ever received in my life' and stated: 'I’ve wanted nothing more than to be her dad from day one." Lauren, when asked why she loves Joe so much, explains: "He has always been there for me and never been mean. He took me to pumpkin patches and even my little cheerleader games."
In a few weeks, when all the paperwork is finished, Lauren will officially become Joe's daughter.
