Through The Eyes of a Child...
Apr 17 '00
Yes, this opinion is going to be about me,when I was a child and how my Parent divorce affected me. I was an only child.
When I was around four,I think,I know it was before I started school.
We had new neighbors move in across the road. Before long my Parents and the man and woman across the road became friends. I remember my parents would go over to their home on evenings to play cards. They had two boys so I had someone to play with.
A few years down the road,it all came out. My Father and the lady across the road was seeing each other. She was my mother's best friend.
My Father left my Mother to be with this lady. I remember my Mother crying at night when I was in bed.
My Mother told me to tell my friends my Father wasn't home because he was working away.
I was now around seven years old. I remember my parents trying to get back together about two times,but it didn't work out. My Father would end up going back to the other woman.
So we sold our house and my Mother and I moved into an apartment. My Father stayed in the picture. He paid for schooling for my Mother so she could get a job to support us. I seen my Father on the weekends.
My Mother finished school and got a job. She met an man and they fell in love and got married. I was now around ten years old. This man she married had three children. Now I have two sisters and a brother. Great!!
Then my Father married the other woman. By this time she had three children. Two boys and one girl. Now I have six brothers and sisters.
A few years down the road my Father and the other woman had two more children. A boy and a girl,my half brother and sister. Now I have Eight brothers and sisters,five from my Fathers marriage and three from the marriage of my Mother.
I grew up living with my Mother and seeing my Father on the weekends. My Father was always there for me. I thought it was great having all these brothers and sisters.
I became closer to the ones I lived with. It was like having a real sister and brother. The other step-sister was married and lived away.
The one I was closest to was my age,so we really were like sisters and do the things sisters do. My step-brother was five years younger,but I came to care for him just as much. The older step-sister moved back,we became close also.
But there was still something missing in my life. I really didn't fit in with my Fathers family and I didn't really fit in with my Mothers family. I think these feelings would have been different if I had a real brother or sister. Sometimes I felt alone. On the outside looking in.
I remember when my step-sister from my Fathers marriage got married. I was already married myself. I was helping in the reception. I looked around and seen that the family was gone. I went to find them. They were having family pictures taken with the Bride and Groom. They had left me out. I remember it hurt,not being included in this family occasion.
When I was living at home my Step-Father tried to do things to me a few times that he shouldn't. He tried to take advantage of me. I told my Mother. She didn't do anything. She just said,"He thought you was me".
On these occasions,he was drinking. My Father found out . He didn't do anything. Being a teenager at the time I just let it go. I buried the hurt deep down inside myself.
So my boy friend and I took matters into our own hands. I got pregnant. I was 15 years old. I wanted to get away from this family. Not just because of what my step-father tried to do,but because he was always offered a job way off. At the time I thought I was going to have to move. My boy friend and I did get married. My Father helped us out with our bills and paid our rent for a while.
Then I lost my Mother to Cancer. All of a sudden I lost two sisters and a brother. These people that were my family just became nothing to me. You just don't know what a death can do to a family until it happens. My step-father remarried.
Then the other woman my Father married,left him. They divorced. I then lost those brothers and sisters from that marriage. I still have a half brother and a sister. I'm seven years older then my half brother and fourteen years older then my half sister. We are not close.
I guess what I'm trying to say after all this,is when your Parents divorce,it can really mess up your child's life. A lot of the things I remember hurt and I buried them deep inside myself. How can you have all those brothers and sisters one minute and the next they are nothing to you. Do you still call them your brothers and sisters? We were a family at one time. Think about it!! What's the answer?
I know divorce happens. They say 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Just don't forget about the child(children)in the middle. I WAS that child in the middle.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
chantilly20
|
|
Member: Donna Mallory
Location: West Virginia
Reviews written: 178
Trusted by: 148 members
About Me:
I have been married for 39 years. I have three children and five Grandchildren.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.