Ms. Smiley alludes to a step-father, though she never says whether or not her mom divorced or was a widow. I tend to think it's the latter, because having had parents who divorced when I was 14 I can tell you it was NOT good for me. Starting with the counseling session where I was blind-sided and told of my parents plans, and asked who did I "choose" to live with now? Ad to that the constant moving into new apartments, and not having a male role model to emulate or look to for reassurance. Then there was having to accept my parents new mates because it was what was expected of you. Divorce ripped me from a safe world, and through me into an uncertain environment where I was forced to grow up much sooner than was natural or beneficial. I don't know many kids who went through divorce who would claim that it was "good" for them. After all, the kids are the only ones who have no choice in the matter!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
1 comment:
Love the pic you chose for this piece—perfect irony. Smiley's mother was divorced. Smiley seems to have this attitude that she and her children, all raised in split families, are just fine, thank you very much. They had fun playing with matches and they didn't burn the house down... so hey, pass the matches.
I think she should stick to writing fiction, she's better at it!
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