divorced
Sometimes a good divorce is better than a bad marriage.
Living with Divorced Parents
My parents got married when I was nine years old. I had a brother that was 14 at the time. My family all together was dysfunctional. My mother was kind and gentle. Both of my parents were using methamphetamine. It was a rough childhood. My parents fought and yelled. I even think my father cheated on my mom several times. By the end of fifth grade, my family was ready to dissolve. My mother had finally had enough. She told my father to leave after one fight not expecting for him to take me and my brother. I got dropped at a family friend's house where I stayed for 6 months. I returned to my mother only once during that time. The house was a mess, my mother was depressed, and she had even started dating.
By Lacey Micheels7 years ago in Families
A Split Between Two... Oh Wait
This one is for both parents and children who have experienced separation/divorce. See, I myself come from what some would call a "broken home". My parents split when I was young, I won’t go into detail about how it went down, but I will talk about the effects it has on a child and how it rolls into their adult life based of my own experiences. Sometimes there are signs these things are going to happen, parents constantly fighting, not many happy moments shared together towards the end and a lot of wondering where the other parent is. Children know and are more aware than you may think. They repeat the things they think are normal behavior, they hide the things they know they maybe should not have heard, it’s inevitable we can’t shelter kids from everything even though sometimes we think we are. So, I’m going to list the four things that stuck with me and I feel is the most important to remember within a newly separated home.
By Bailey (BayLee) Elease8 years ago in Families
Keep It Together, Momma
Sitting here in front of this bright red carry-on bag half filled with the boys’ clothes, I can’t help but freeze. This colorful array of Captain America, Ninja Turtles, Minecraft, Batman, and just about any popular theme to the five-to-seven year old peer group has caught my stare. Tiny size six khaki shorts folded up nice and neat in my lap just can’t seem to find their way inside the suitcase. My arms can’t move. My body won’t respond. I can’t even manage to blink as I feel every ounce of my being want to shatter into a billion sharp pieces.
By Trysta Peterson8 years ago in Families
An Open Letter to the Man Who Destroyed My Family
To whomever it may concern, I don't know your name, what you look like, where you are from, or anything about you. And I don't care to. You ripped my family a part. You took the seams of my parents' marriage and helped my mom pull them out thread by thread. I don't blame you entirely, for it takes two to tango, but it takes an extremely low, greedy person to come between a married woman and her husband. Who knows? Maybe there were multiple of you. Like I said: I don't know, and I don't care to, whomever it may concern.
By Ashley Gilmer8 years ago in Families
A Future of Forgiveness
I was reading a book today and something incredible happened: a line clicked for me that may just be a game changer. You see, I've been living life as if I do not need a boyfriend or husband, uninterested in the tradition that is marriage. A guesstimated seventy percent of that decision is because of brokenness that I still have from my parents' divorce. A divorce that happened long ago. A divorce that I thought I had moved on from and in light of recent events, realized that I was still dealing with. A divorce that deserves a different story than the one I am here to tell today.
By Betty Albertson8 years ago in Families
A Mother's Cry for Help
Have you ever wondered to yourself as a parent if you are making the right choices for your child? Have you ever felt like all is currently lost and you find yourself searching for that solution called "Hope" in your darkness? I regret to inform you all that I am one of those people. I had second thoughts about even typing this article but I am doing so in hopes that someone else out there will realize they are not alone. I am a mother to a wonderful four-year-old daughter and she is my absolute world. I live every day for her because sadly, if not for her, I may have not even have been here to be telling this story. She was my salvation to change my life around when I was in very dire need for a miracle. So, in a way, she is my hero. Her being only four, she does not quite grasp the severity of the emotion I feel every day. However, even the greatest of people have their breaking points and I hate to admit that this is mine. Do not take me as some mental tragedy though. I am conflicted emotionally about even typing this because I see myself as a strong individual and everyone will say I am not one to just give up easily. I am always the one the keeps everyone in high spirits and tells them there is always another way. Ironic that now the savior of others needs saving from herself. Being a mom day in and day out is a difficult job in itself, and now I have to worry about not only my mental and emotional state but my child's as well. I do this to hopefully gain some peace for getting everything off my chest but to also seek some guidance. I would go to the moon and back for my child, she need only to ask.
By Alycia dasilva8 years ago in Families
Why Can’t We Be Friends?
Divorce is mean. There’s no way around it. Even in amicable separations (which I was not fortunate enough to have), it feels like failure. Either you failed them, or they failed you. And when everyone is preaching to move on, when they do it’s heart wrenching.
By Hailey Hornburg8 years ago in Families
Unnoticed
Chapter 1 Screaming. That is all Sam would hear through the night. At eight years old, Sam lies in bed listening to the slamming of beer cans on the hardwood floors and the crackling sound of the lighter as her mother, Melissa, lights another cigarette while sobbing in tears. I’m used to it by now, Nicole would think to herself. But the constant sound of breaking glass lies in her mind as she lays in bed, wondering if it will ever stop. Sam’s parents knew she had school in the morning, but her father, Larry, seemed not to care. The tone in his voice scared her so badly saying, “If you would put down those damn cigarettes Melissa, maybe our marriage would be worth saving!”
By Amber Crist8 years ago in Families
