Give peace a chance

I come from a split family. When you are young it means double the presents. When you are a teen it means missing parties if you have to go to your “other home” that weekend. When you are a married adult, it means at least 4 of every holiday. It is what it is.

I don’t think it ever really occurred to me that my family was different from other peoples for the most part. They divorced when I was young and it’s the only family I knew. In the end, I had three parents instead of two – which isn’t a bad thing. More people to love me.

Although I’m sure if you asked either of my biological parents, they both would have a different version of what happened to cause them to divorce, and I’m sure it wasn’t pretty – those things usually aren’t.

As I get older though, I realize that even though I was from a “broken home”, I was pretty lucky. Some situations are much harder than mine. What if the two divorced parents hate each other? What if they guilt you for talking to the other, especially at a young age? What if they accuse you of being “just like your mother/father” as if it is a bad thing? What happens when you get married or have a birthday party for your kid and they can’t all be in the same room?

Looking back now, I have the utmost respect for all three of my parents. They never, not once that I can remember, said negative things about each other. In fact, if I tried to play sides…they wouldn’t let me. They always treated each other with respect and even lent a hand to each other when needed. In the end they did what was best for us kids and put their personal issues aside. As it should be.