Things That Have Shaped Who I Am__My Parent's Divorce

Kaley Stock

Ms. Kelly Anthony

14SP-ENG-101-W05

February 25th, 2014

Things That Have Shaped Who I am

My Parent's Divorce

                   I'm going to start a new 'series' type thing in my blog this week. This series will be about the things that have shaped me to be the person that I am today. I chose to start this series because I've been going through some hard times here lately, and it's good to remember that we can learn from everything in life. As they say, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Like everyone, I've had my struggles. However, I can proudly say that I believe I've come out on top and I'm proud of who I am and am trying to be. 

                  With that being said, I would like to discuss the first significant event in my life that has shaped who I am as a person. This particular event happens to be my parent's divorce. Now don't get me wrong, I don't wish to be one of those stereotypical kids who whines about their parent's divorce. I just wish to demonstrate how my parent's behavior through divorce affected me as a person. 

                  Different parent handle divorce in different ways. Some try to make it as easy as possible, by being civil in custody disagreements, making parenting decisions, and arranging who should pay for what. On the other hand, some parents make it much harder. They scream and fight every step of the way. This second route was the one my parents decided to take. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to hear about custody battles and child support payments. If my dad didn't have us back to my mom right on time, it was war. 

                  I'm not sure my parents saw how this affected my sister and I. Sometimes they were so caught up in fighting, it seemed like they were too busy to pay attention to us. I also would get caught in the middle constantly. I would be forced to pick between one of them. It's hard to grow up in such hostility. It makes me scared to get married. Heck, it makes me scared to have kids. I would hate to put my own kids through that. Don't get me wrong, I have two amazing parents. They have done a lot for me. I will cover that more in this series.