Throughout my high school years, I had slowly noticed that the arguing between my mom and my dad had seemed to increase as time went on. From random disagreements to frequent arguments, my siblings and I soon began to realize that something was up. Shortly after, our parents announced to us that they were splitting up.
At first it was hard to imagine a life with divorced parents. Sure, plenty of my friends had divorced parents. They usually went to their dad’s house one week, and mom’s the other, but I had never thought that it would happen in my home until it did. As the next couple of weeks passed, awkward tensions emerged in my house as my dad moved into the guest bedroom, and we all had to live with the realization that our family was breaking up. Sooner than later, my childhood house of over ten years was put on the market, and before I knew it I was living in a nearby duplex with my mom as a temporary housing solution. Moving out of your childhood home is something that many people eventually have to do, most not until they leave for college. Leaving all of the memories was definitely hard for me, but leaving the one place that still held my family together was even harder.
After renting the duplex for a couple of months, both my mom and my dad found houses within walking distance of each other, just a short drive from our old neighborhood. As time went on, I learned quickly how to cope with divorced parents, and that although this situation is not ideal, in the long run my parents really were happier apart. It was very hard for me to admit to myself that divorce might have been a solution to the disagreements and opposing views that they had during their marriage, but once I did it was much easier to deal with having divorced parents.
While all of this turmoil was going on in my parent’s marriage, my siblings and I developed an even stronger relationship and bond. If it wasn’t for them and their support, it definitely would’ve been a much more difficult situation to accept. My siblings were there for me whenever I needed them during these tough times, and I was there for them. Together we came to the realization that this was our new life, and there was nothing we could do to change it.
After accepting this new lifestyle, it was relatively easy to start living it. Whether it be spending time with each parent on holidays, having a casual conversation over dinner, visiting each household every once in awhile, this soon became my normal life. Moving to college has made it slightly more difficult, because whenever I visit home I have two homes to visit. In a short amount of time, it it hard to spend enough time with each parent, but in the end their love and support is overwhelming, whether they are together or not.