When I was younger, I moved across the country. I was born in New Hampshire, and when I was four years old my family moved to Tennessee, until it didn't work out. That happened when I was six, then we moved back to New Hampshire.

When we moved back to New Hampshire we moved to Weare for about 3 years, then we moved to Concord, then my parents started to realize that there was a problem happening with each other and that they would probably not stay together forever.

It all came to a head in 2020 when they finally did get a divorce, and my dad moved out of the house and moved to a new place. When they did this I was 11, and I did not know at first. I was told that my dad was going on a “business trip,” then the next week my parents talked to me and my dad said, “Hey bud, me and your mom have decided to get a divorce. We have decided that you will be living with your mom and that you can visit me.”

That's all I can remember. Then my life changed after this. I would not see my dad every day; I would be living with my mom.

When this first happened it did not hit me how much this would affect me, then the next day I realized what this meant for how my life would change. I would wake up later and try to stay in bed for as long as possible; I would stay awake at night and I could not fall asleep.

The divorce has affected me in more ways than I thought it would when it happened. During the first year of the divorce I would not see my dad every day. It was quiet in the house because it would be just me and my mom. When she got a job it was sometimes night shifts and those nights were very quiet. Before my house would never be quiet; we would always have something going on, but now it was just me, alone. My dad was involved in my life, but it was not the same as before because when I came home from school he would be there or he would be there in 30 minutes, but after I saw him two to three times a week.

I think I got anxiety for a bit when this happened, but I was able to make everything better by just accepting what happened. I had to realize that there is no way to change the past and thinking that I could was making my life worse.

The way that I was able to get over the divorce was that I was growing up and realizing that this happens a lot and that it is not the end of the world. I also met people who also had their parents divorced and that helped me because they could tell me that it was all going to be ok in the end. Now, I no longer think that I was the problem. My relationship with my parents has gotten better because I thought that my dad and mom were both in the wrong for getting a divorce, but now I know that they had their reasons for getting divorced.

Now I am 15 and I have had to live with the divorce for four years, and I have learned from it. I no longer think that I can change the past and that no one can change the past.

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