Remember us siting on the coach, as a family. We would laugh and make jokes. Those were the good old days. We were happy but the mask unfolded to show something else. Sadness, pain is what showed though that mask.

My family was drifting apart. It felt like nothing was happening and it felt like a dream. I really wanted it not to be true but I had to face the fact that my parents weren’t happy. I have always seen divorce in the public and it wasn’t a pretty picture. The words divorce, separating and unhappy were flashing in my head. It was making my head ache.

I knew things would change. They did in an instant. Next thing I knew me and my mom were leaving. Seeing tears in her eyes pained me to death. Seeing the redness in my dad’s eyes made me mad. I knew he was crying too, but it didn’t matter to me. The only thing I knew was that I was mad. I didn’t know why he would just do that, leaving my mom and me alone. I felt alone. The perfect picture of my childhood was ruined. My life has headed in a different direction.

Hope was what I had. Hope that someone worthy would come and make my mother happy. My wish came true. After all the crying a rainbow appeared and my life had changed again. My mom got married and now I have a little brother. We are a family now.

I still see my dad every other weekend. It’s not the same. He has a new life but he still includes me. I feel left out all the time and I felt like crying every time I was not included. It was me being stubborn but I had the right to because I was hurt inside.

I know my families love me and care but I sometimes think I am a bother for them like I am the girl who is not in the picture. My image was wrong and I needed to go. It felt like this everywhere we would go. I felt like an outsider wanting to fit in with a family.

I would always see families at the park or someplace else. I would say to my mom I want to be like that my mom would always say “Me too sweetie one day we will.” The words were so powerful that I was counting the days till it came. I wanted so bad to be that picture and be like everyone else. I wanted to be “normal”.

At school I thought I was the only one but a few other kids have gone through the same family tragedy. I made many friends that have my back and support me when I was feeling blue. I would help some kids who are going into it now. It feels good helping them because I have gone thought the same thing.

I think my experiences have made me so much stronger. It has made me see that that’s how life is. I have been so sad and depressed for a long time that I finally grew out of it. I gave up and just realized that my parents would never be together. It took me a long time but I am happy now.

My family’s divorce really changed me. It was very affecting. The word normal had changed for me. No one is normal were just different. In my heart I still see the family I really wanted but then two new ones appear instead