Michael and Heather Corcoran met when Aaliyah was just a few years old. The couple quickly hit it off, and shortly after Heather and Michael’s wedding, Aaliyah started calling Michael ‘dad.’ On September 7, 2019, Michael officially became the third-graders dad as the adoption process was finalized. Pictured (l-r) Canaan, Aaliyah’s younger brother, Michael, Aaliyah and Heather. (submitted photo)
Making it official; the Corcoran family
By Megan Molseed
mmolseed@thefayettecountyunion.com
“We always went to the park to play,” smiled eight-year-old Aaliyah Corcoran of some of the first moments when she met her dad, Michael. “We’d race on the hill to see who was faster. I think he let me win sometimes!”
“I never let you win,” grinned Michael. “If you beat me, it was because you were faster!”
To watch Aaliyah and Michael together, it is instantly obvious that the father/daughter duo share an unbreakable bond. The two even seem to share the same vibrant smile.
“She’s spunky,” laughed Michael of his daughter as he and his wife, Heather, watched Aaliyah and her younger brother, Canaan, toss a toy back and forth in the living room of their West Union home.
“There is no shortage of energy here,” Heather added with a grin.
While the connection shared between each member of this loving family is obvious, it can seem surreal that the father/daughter relationship Aaliyah and Michael share is, legally, only a few months old.
“The official adoption was on September 7, of this year,” said Heather of the day her husband officially adopted her first born. “It was a special day, but overall it didn’t change anything. It just made everything official.”