Maria Bello has come out as "whatever."
In a New York Times article titled, "Coming Out as a Modern Family," the "Prisoners" actress details how she told her 12-year-old son, Jackson, that she was in a relationship with a woman.
"I was with someone romantically and I hadn't told [Jack]," Bello writes. "I had become involved with a woman who was my best friend, and, as it happens, a person who is like a godmother to my son."
Maria, 46, explains the process she went through to acknowledge this woman, Clare, was more than just a friend.
"My feelings about attachment and partnership have always been that they are fluid and evolving. Jack's father, Dan, will always be my partner because we share Jack," pens Bello. "Just because our relationship is nonsexual doesn't make him any less of a partner … My more recent ex, Bryn, remains my partner because we share our activism. And Clare will always be my partner because she is also my best friend."
Bello dated Jack's father, TV executive Dan McDermott, for several years before breaking up in 2006. In 2010, Bello ended her engagement to musician Bryn Mooser after two years together.
After a health scare over the summer, Maria told a very curious Jack she was in fact romantically involved with Clare.
"[Jack] looked at me for what seemed like an eternity and then broke into a huge, warm smile, 'Mom, love is love, whatever you are,'" writes the activist, noting, "Yes, he obviously attends one of those progressive schools in Los Angeles!"
"We have figured it out together: Jack, Clare, Dan and I," says Maria. "It's a rare weekend when we aren't piled in the same car, driving to one of Jack's soccer tournaments. Dan makes fun of Clare for getting lost and she makes sure he always has the umbrellas, sunscreen, water nuts and whatever else we might need in a nuclear disaster.
"So I would like to consider myself a 'whatever,' as Jackson said. Whomever I love, however I love them, whether they sleep in my bed or not, or whether I do homework with them or share a child with them, 'love is love,'" Maria writes. "And I love our modern family."
Bello tweeted a picture of her Modern Family on Friday:
Giving thanks for my modern family. Happy thanksgiving for whatever kind of family you have. @nytimes pic.twitter.com/Mty9FPNHh4
— maria bello (@maria_bello) November 30, 2013
Head over to the New York Times to read the full article.
