I Have a Mom and a Dad, But Not a Family

My parents decided to get a divorce less than two years ago, in fact, this weekend marks the two-year anniversary of the day they decided to split up. The Sunday after Thanksgiving; it is a day that no one in my family will ever forget I am sure. The four of us were sitting around the square, wooden dinner table eating leftover turkey and stuffing. Mom and Dad had been fighting since we had gotten home from church. Alex and I had spent the remainder of the morning hiding upstairs with our stereos turned up to their maximum levels to drown out the sound of Mom and Dad screaming downstairs. When they finally summoned us to come downstairs for dinner we were both hesitant, not knowing what lie ahead of us, but expecting the worst.

"I am not really hungry," said my ten-year-old brother in a voice that was beginning to crack with emotion.

"I am not either, but we had better go down there, or they will be on our cases next," I replied to him, placing a hand on his lower back to guide him down the hallway.

We used to live in a two-story blue house with big bedrooms, a tree house in the backyard and great neighbors in a little town with no crime and no pollution. Things were supposed to be happy there. I had always gotten good grades in school, I was in every sport, and my little brother was adorable. Life was supposed to be perfect.

When we sat down at the table it was evident that Mom had been crying and that Dad was angry, but they both managed to be quiet through the first half of the meal. Alex and I ate as quickly as we could, knowing that the fighting could break out again at anytime.

Before long my parents ended the silence and began arguing across the dinner table. "Maybe we should ask Alicia how she feels about all of this," said my dad and my mom agreed.

I knew what was coming next. I was about to get drug through another o my parents' fights. My role was to be the decision maker, to decide which of my parents was right and which of them was wrong. The topic of conversation on this particular Sunday was whether or not we should change churches.