One house, one room, one bed, and one family quickly turned into two houses, two rooms, two beds, and two families. Half of the clothes here, and the other half there. Half of the things here, and the other half there. Half of your life here, the other half there. Spending nights as a family, with Mom and Dad constantly arguing, to the point where they can't even be in the same room as each other. The situation demands your instant maturity, adding even more stress to the already stressful situation. Imagine everything you've ever known flipped upside down, overnight. Welcome to the lives of children with divorced parents.
One Sunday night my family and my cousins -- who lived across the street from us -- ate dinner and we spent the night together. We shared many laughs, and we all had a good time. The next morning my parents went off to work and I went to school, only to come home to a completely different life than that of the night before. From that point on, almost every aspect of my life has been affected. We had to move out of the only house I ever lived in, into two smaller places; a townhouse and a half-house. I now have to share my room with my sister in both places, one of the rooms being the size of a walk-in closet. Holidays are split, my birthday is split, and my life is split. Half of my life here, and half of my life there. Constantly packing clothes every week to bring over to the other house. Always being involved in my parents' arguments, and having to be the parent of my parents' fights. Life since that day has definitely changed, and will continue to as I grow older.
Forty to 50 percent of marriages end in divorce -- and never in a million years did I think I would be a part of that statistic. This whole experience has opened my eyes and taught me that you really don't know what you have until it's gone. I've learned to recognize the value of the people and things around me, and to be grateful for the things that I have. My parents' divorce has changed my life forever and continues to everyday.
The worst part about it all is knowing how it once was, and how it will never be again. My advice to those who still have their family under one roof would be to appreciate the little things in life that are so easily taken for granted. In the blink of an eye it could all be taken away, and you don't want to overlook the good times while they're happening. So stay home on Friday nights and play games with your family, go to the movies or bowling together as a family, just enjoy spending time with the people you love because you never know what tomorrow holds.
