In the United States, 50% of marriages end in divorce. Growing up, I never thought I would be a child of divorced parents, but when my parents decided to end their marriage, I knew I would love differently.

We, as children of divorce, are different from those who were raised in the “normal” two-parent household. The truth is children of divorce know how to love more, and value true love more.

Children of divorce aren’t afraid of falling in love or being in love, but we are truly afraid to not be in love. We are fearful of making the same mistakes as our parents did, and are fearful we will end up the same way as our parents.

Children of divorce know what true love is, and what love is supposed to be. The truth is, children of divorce know more about love than anyone else. We, children of divorce, live our lives consciously, we know when we let someone into our life, it's meaningful, and we do so with awareness and gravity.

The truth is, children of divorce believe that love is worth the fight.

The truth is, children of divorce are hopeless romantics. We hope for a true, can’t live without you type of love, a perfect love that lives in our souls. We want a deeper love, a true love because our deepest wish is to have a forever love.

The truth is, children of divorce question everything because we don’t want to make mistakes. If we know we are in love or are loved, we need affirmations to believe it. We need constant validation to remind us that our love truly remains because we don’t like surprises.

The truth is, children of divorce communicate the best. We learned through our parents that lack of communication can lead to what happened between our parents. We experienced first-hand how our parents talked behind each other’s back, each slighting the other’s character.

The truth is, children of divorce are the best at comforting others. Children of divorce understand what it means to be a good listener and caretaker. We had to learn early on how to deal with our parents’ divorce and comfort our parents, and siblings.

The Truth is, being with a child of divorced parents isn’t easy. We need validation and desire for constant transparency, but we are the best lovers. As children of divorce, we know what to look for in a partner and we know to never settle for an ordinary love. We want the love our parents deserved on their first marriage.

We as children of divorce are not fearful of marriage or love. Children of divorce want to prove the statistics wrong. We, children of divorce, are stronger and more mature because pain has taught us how to love. We have the most love to give, and we deserve a sensational, romantic fairytale kind of love. A forever love, a can’t live without you kind of love.

Finally, thank you to the love of my life, who truly makes me believe in our love story, our fairy tale, can’t live without you love. Thank you for being patient and kind, knowing that opening up to love is difficult for me. Thank you for loving me always, and always accepting who I am. I am forever grateful for you, and our love story, I love you.