I'm sure you read the title of this article and thought, "Here we go again, just another pity party for the poor little girl from the divorced family." But that's where you're wrong. Sure, as a child of divorce there comes some issues, like every other weekend visits to the other parent, holidays, and I love differently than most. And let me tell you, fear of abandonment is REAL. I guess that's one of the reasons I've had such a hard time with my relationships in the past.

But that's just a few of the disadvantages out of many advantages of coming from a divorced famiIy. I do not by any means blame my parents for making this decision. I have more family than I could have ever dreamed of! From being the only child to gaining two beautifully talented stepsisters, who I could not be more proud of. And for one of them giving me the opportunity to be the aunt of two handsome little boys and the most gorgeous little girl I've ever seen! I have gained an amazing stepmother who treats me as one of her own and would be there at the blink of an eye if I asked her to. I have also gained a wonderful stepfather who has been nothing short of extraordinary in any time of need. I see the way my daddy looks at my stepmother and I can feel the genuine sense of happiness overflowing from them and its what I aspire to have with someone someday. The same goes for my mother and my stepdad. I've never seen a more perfect, beautiful, elegant bride than the day I got to see her get married to him. I believe it takes very special people like my mother and my father to allow someone else as a parental figure into their child's life and I have absolutely nothing but the up-most respect and love for the both of them. I can only imagine how terrifying it is to let someone into your child's life because of course you want them to have a positive impact on your child and most importantly, get along.

As a child, I can honestly say I did not think this way at all and I just couldn't understand why my family couldn't be like some of my friends whose mother and father were still happily married. But as I have grown into an adult I have come to realize that that's not always the perfect perception of family. Do you want to know why? Because I believe my family is absolutely amazing and we are honestly closer than some families that haven't been through divorce. So the next time you see someone come from a divorced family, don't pity them. Instead, be happy for them because we have insights on situations that most people don't and some of us learn them from an extremely young age which helps us become the people we are and I can honestly say that I wouldn't want it any other way.