There were countless arguments. Doors slammed shut. A wall dividing my parents. And the times my dad would leave the house furious. There were fights for little things and big things too. Sometimes I couldn’t take it anymore and I would tell my dad words that should have been left unspoken. I remember I would NEVER talk back to him. Mostly because I was scared that he might spank me or yell at me. But when it came to him yelling at my mom I was brave enough to tell him to stop.

In the end my mom couldn’t take it anymore. She said those impacting words -I want a divorce- My jaw dropped open. At first my dad didn’t think she was serious. We packed up and left to my aunt’s house, there, my mom came to a not so surprising conclusion. We were moving to Washington. That’s when it hit my dad, he asked my mom to take him back. That he was sorry. But my mom had already given him many chances and this time her answer was no! I think she was tired. Tired of having to keep up with the same problems over and over again. Tired of not being valued. Taken for granted. I wonder what questions were going through her head. Did she have doubts? When did it all go wrong?!

I was sad because I was leaving my dad, my friends, my house. I would miss it. But at the same time I thought it was for the best.

The day was cloudy like always. The air, still dense with the smell of rain from the night before. I thought, “Today is the day. We’re leaving.”

We put all of our belongings into my grandpa’s shiny truck and said our goodbyes to my aunt and her family, some of us cried. We got in the truck and left. It now all seems like it happened in slow motion. Like. Trying. To. Walk. Underwater. As we were on the freeway, I looked out the window and a thought hit me. “This time it’s real.” My parents had separated before, but this time it was, The Divorce. We got to Sunnyside, Washington and my new life began.

Divorce isn’t what breaks apart marriages when they are already broken. It’s just a way to admit it wasn’t working anymore. Three years later I see my mom happy, and I don’t really see my dad, but we still talk. I wish the best for them and I love them both very much.