Without them, no one would learn any important life lessons. My parent's marriage was a mistake, and their divorce has had the greatest influence on me.
I am the reason why my parents got married. They never planned on getting married, and they really did not plan on having children. When my mama found out that she was pregnant, they both thought the only option was to get married, and of course, because of the time period, that was the only option. I was born on July 19, 1983, the day that set the record that year for being the hottest (I would have taken that as a bad sign). My mama and daddy had just been married on May 22. After I was born, all hell broke loose.
Looking back, I realize that my daddy was never around when we needed him. He was always working to support his ever-growing family, or he was always out with friends, as he called them. Daddy was dealing with so much stress, and I suppose he thought arguing and fighting with mama was a good stress reliever, because he always seemed to pick fights with mama. I would always take control of my brother and sister, making sure that they were safe and out of harm's way. The hostility continued everyday, until October 2001, when my parents finally got divorced.
Living with the fighting really affected me in a bad way. I learned to run away from things, instead of dealing with them. As I got older, I began to resent my daddy because of the pain he caused my mama, and presently, I have a horrible relationship with him. I have negative feelings about marriage, because I saw first hand how much pain two people can cause each other. One good outcome from the divorce is that I now know to be cautious when choosing someone to spend the rest of my life with.
Mistakes happen all the time. If my parents had not have made the mistake of getting married, then I could very easily end up in the same situation as they were. My parent's divorce was a big part of my life that influenced me greatly.