Personal Narrative: The Great Deception

The Great Deception
Many girls of different ages fantasize about the perfect wedding, perfect husband, a gorgeous dress, and the happiness to come after the wedding. At one point I was just like these girls. I saw marriage as a paradise that everybody should experience. Around tenth- grade, my rose tinted glasses were removed and I witnessed just how bad a marriage could get to the point of divorce. The divorce my parents went through, changed my entire view on monogamy. I now see marriage in a more realistic point of view and that it is not an easy journey as I once had thought it was.
Until the twenty-second of March, I thought my parents were happy with each other and that they would be together for the rest of their lives, but that was not the case. I was given no reason to suspect that anything bad was occurring, but when I came home from school that day everything was revealed. My father told me that he had been wanting to speak to me alone. He looked fearful and bit anxious. I knew this conversation was going to be different from every other talk we have had. He started off with, “Please just listen and give me a chance to explain myself before you judge me.” I had nodded

nervously. He then proceeded by telling me that I have a one and a half year old baby brother named Jeremy. He had told me about Jeremy’s mother and how my mother was no innocent angel herself. She had an affair twice, the first time I was two years old and the second one was a couple weeks ago. It took a while for me to take all the information in, but once I did I had a small breakdown. All my friends had parents that went through a divorce, but I did not think I would ever go through it too. The process had made me ponder about my own future.
I love my parents to death but they are the reason why I am nervous about getting married and insecure in long relationships. I would not want to go through a divorce and all the difficulties that come with it. How can a bride or a groom feel so secure about their union? How can they trust one another, without assuming the worst? What makes them think it will last to the end of their days? I think the bride and groom had to earn that trust one way or another.
If there was one lesson I learned from the divorce, it was that I must really get to know my future partner well and that I should sustain good communication so my future partner and I both understand each other’s feelings.

I know that there is no such thing as the perfect guy because no one is perfect, but I hope to find a guy who could erase all my doubts. Even though I am still a bit nervous, I learned from the mistakes my parents made and what I can do to avoid situations like theirs. The fantasy I had about my future wedding partially lives on, but with a more reality based twist. I know that just because my parents struggled does not mean I am bound to as well. I survived the storm and from it emerged the young lady I am today. Good things can come from a little rain after

all.