When I was 14 going on 15 my two sisters, myself, my mom, and my dad were going through tough times. It was my Freshman year of high school during the cold month of November. My parents told my sister and I to come in the family room. This was something that rarely happened, so we kind of knew something was wrong. We were so scared of what was going to be said to us that we took ten minutes to walk down the hallway to the family room. When we arrived to the family room, I saw my dad sitting on one side of the room and my mom on the other, I knew that this was actually not going to be pleasant conversation. This was something they never did. They always sat on the same side and sat next to each other on the couch. My sisters and I sat down with frightening faces, but eager to hear what was about to be said.
"You know you're father and I love you all three of you, right"? My mother said.
"Yes...?" My sisters and I all said at once.
"You're mother and I are getting a divorce guys". My dad said. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was this some sort of joke? Were my parents pulling a fast one on us? They couldn't possibly be getting divorced. The first thing that came to my mind was "Is this because of me"? I instantly began thinking of all the horrible things I did and just paused, thinking about how if I had made the "right" decision, all of this could've been avoided and my parents would still be together.
"Why are you getting divorced"? My sister Maya asked.
"You aren't old enough to understand baby. It's just something that we think is best for the family, us". My mom said.
"But all we know is mom and dad". Maya said. I could tell this was going to effect her really badly. She loves both my parents dearly. She had unconditional love for them both.
"I already bought a new house. You all can come visit me whenever you want". My dad said.
"Will we ever see you again"? I asked. Being new to the process of divorce, I didn't know what was going to happen. Does this mean that we have to only see him on weekends? I began trying to connect my parents divorce to the divorces I see on TV where the mom keeps the children all week and the dad only has the children on weekends.
"Yes, I'll always be here. I still love you all". My dad said. Once what they were telling me "kicked in", I began talking to my friends who told me that their parents were also divorced. They told me that it wasn't all that bad. Sure they hate going from house to house constantly, but they know that both of their parents still love them equally. Just like they did before they even thought of getting a divorce. It took me some weeks, maybe even months, to understand what everyone was telling me. I began being depressed all the time and stayed up late because I missed one of the parents I wasn't with, depending on whose house I was at. I always cried because I couldn't get this idea out of my head that it was my fault they were getting divorced. Weeks and months went on before I actually was able to cope with my new life. I finally understood what my friends we telling me about how both my parents still love me. I now finally understand that nothing really happened. The only thing that happened is one person moved out. It has now been a full year since all of this happened and now I'm back to my old self. But now I'm more confident in myself and I don't put a lot of pressure on myself. I've learned a lot through my struggles, but still the only thing that I care about most is that, like my friends, parents, and family members told me, my parents still love me like it was the first day either of them connected eyes with me as a baby. If I could say anything to my friends, it would be Thank You. If I could say anything to my parents, it would be I love you.