Age Be Darned! Woman, 92, Legally Adopts 76-Year-Old Cousin
A 92-year-old woman becoming a mom is bound to raise eyebrows. This is no exception.
Muriel Clayton, 92, of Dallas, recently adopted her 76-year-old cousin, Mary Smith.
The two are cousins and their bond goes back decades when Clayton took in Smith after Smith's father died and her mother was too sick to take care of her.
For more than six decades, Clayton never gave up her dream of actually being Smith's mother, but didn't dare make any move to do so before Smith's actual mother passed away.
One day before Mother's Day this year, Clayton brought up the subject with Smith, who was gung ho about the idea and on June 9 the duo made it official.
Clayton summed up what it means to have adopted Smith by saying, "I have worked jigsaw puzzles, and my life had been a beautiful picture. But one piece was missing, and that was Mary. And now I've got that piece in place. Officially!"