My whole life I have been close to both of my parents, but because both my sister and I were mainly raised by our father, we weren't as close to our mother as some of our friends are.
It wasn't until I got into elementary school that I became close with my mom. After my parents got divorced and my mom left, leaving my dad to raise my sister and I, I didn't think that my mom and I would ever be as close as we are today. Being raised by divorced parents showed me that life isn't that much different than it would be if my parents were still together. My sister and I are up differently than most people, not only because my parents are divorced, but because they are as close as they are. With my parents still being close, I still had all of the perks of a family as if they never got divorced, but at the same time, I had all of the perks of a divorced family.
Not growing up with my mom in my life every single day showed me that I could be as close with her as I am with my dad, who I do see every day. Growing up, my sister and I saw my mom a few times each week, and for a long time, that was enough for us, but as time went on and we got older, my dad let us decide when we wanted to go to our mom's house, and that's when I truly became as close to my mom as I am today.
Whenever things got tough with my dad or my sister, I knew that I could call my mom and she would come and rescue me from whatever drama was going on in my life. No matter what was happening at home, I could venture off to my second home--my mom's house and I would immediately be happy again. Because my mom didn't see me and my sister as much, she spoiled us more than my dad would. Even today, my mom loves taking me and my sister out for dinner or drinks or whatever we want because she doesn't see us as much as she used to when we didn't have work or school consuming our schedules all the time.
Being raised by a single father helped me become closer to my mother, because we had a very conventional yet unconventional mother - daughter relationship, and that is what I loved about growing up. Because I didn't see my mom everyday, when I did get to see and spend time with her, it was really nice to be able to catch up with her and everything that is happening in our lives. Now that I am in college and don't really see either of my parents as much, we I'm able to see either of them, I savor those moments because I know that they won't last long. Having a cell phone and being able to call or text my mom at any time has also helped a lot with our growing relationship in the past, and even now, because if we talk for two minutes or twenty minutes, I am able to catch up with my mom about my day or hers or whatever I need without even seeing her and it's just nice to be able to talk to her, and I know that she loves it too.
The relationship I have with both my parents, but especially my mom, may not seem typical or "normal" to anyone else, but to me, only seeing my mom a few days a week and more and more as the years went on really strengthen or relationship in ways that I don't believe would have actually happened if I saw her everyday like I did my dad growing up.
