A Separated Family

There are many people out there that live in a separated household as I do, and from experience I can say that sometimes it isn't the greatest thing in the world. My parents split up when I was three months old.

When I was 4 years old, my mom and I moved to Tampa, Florida. Since I was so young, I don't really remember a whole lot from my out of state living, but from what I do remember, I hated it. We lived on a horse ranch in which I had my first horse, Silver. I probably don't seem much of the "country living" type, but I definitely have the experience of that lifestyle. Right before my 5th birthday in April, we moved back to Cambridge, Ohio. My mom became very ill, so I moved in with my dad's parents since they were the only relative I have that were financially stable. Even though I lived with my dad's parents, he still never came around to see me much. I'd get the occasional "hi" and he would come around for the holidays.

Growing up with parents who are split up can get hard sometimes, especially when you see happy families that still remain intact. Every day I wonder what it would be like today if my parents had remained a couple, but on most days I wouldn't want them to be together. The reason for that is because my mom went on to have my brother, Jake. My dad got married to my step-mom, Tonya, and they had 3 children together along with already bringing along my step-brother. From my parents splitting up I received 3 brothers and 2 sisters. If they hadn't split up when I was younger, who knows if I would ever have any siblings. The only good thing I can make up of not having an intact family is that I am able to have more siblings than the average family.

To this day I still live with my grandparents, when I'm not living on campus. They have been more than a blessing to me as I have grown into a person I would never have become if I had lived under my mom or dad's roof. I have grown accustomed to the old, classy customs along with the modern. My grandparents taught me to value things in a way I never would have imagined. All-in-all, living in a world where separated families is somewhat common is not always a bad things. Sometimes it works out for the better in my case, but I know there are people out there who have things much harder than I do.