There Is No Such Thing As A Broken Home

Insight from a college intern.

As most of us know by now, a home can be made up of different people. Being a teenager and growing into the adult you're meant to be can be challenging without another adult to help you when you're in need. From personal experience, I've been one of the new people in my group of friends to have both parents, and have both of those parents still be married. Growing up, I always felt embarrassed or bad about talking about my parents because so many of my friends didn't have parents or had parents who were not together anymore. I know it sounds silly, but that's just how I felt. 

When I moved to college and wasn't able to be around my family, I began to see things I had never seen before. My parents had been arguing more often than not, they didn't spend as much time together as they used to and the feeling inside my home was more tense than ever. When I asked my older brother and younger sister about this, they told me that they didn't know what I was talking about. Which was absurd to me because there was obviously a huge difference in my parents relationship. Turns out, it had been that was for a few years, yet since I was always around, I never really noticed. 

Although my parents love each other very much, they know that what they have isn't what it used to be. Their marriage became like a job and not something they enjoy doing without the feeling like they have to. Being older, it doesn't make me sad, but I still have a younger sister that is a junior in high school and my parents told me they feel guilty because they don't want to be the reason why she stops trying in school and then blames in on their separation. Which is common for students to do, by the way.

When my parents separate, I won't identify my home as a broken home. There is no such thing as a broken family. There are broken relationships, and people move out or in, but those are nothing other than changes. And changes for the best in the end. A family is made up of whatever you want it to be. A family is the people who check up on you, who help you with homework, drive you places, make sure you've eaten, and most importantly, love you. Although I have my parents, I also have my best friends, a mentor, my grandma and my uncle and his wife. My family isn't just my parents, and yours doesn't have to be either.