My stepdad's ex-wife. I want there to be a word for how much I care about her and look up to her, but nothing sounds right.

I call her my Lesbian Elder to be silly (and hey, she is!), but I want something less flippant. Bleh.

I want to just say friend. But. I have the HARDEST time with that because of our age difference-- I've had respect for elders hammered

into me from a young age, so overcoming that feeling of "you're my superior, we're not on the same level" is very difficult, no matter how

we act around each other.

And she is part of my family. So "friend" isn't enough, anyway.