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Because being the child of parents who went their separate ways is one thing. Being particularly close to the parent who left, and then watching his life continue somewhere else, is another. Even when you understand the circumstances intellectually, there can still be a part of you that never quite knows where you belong in that rearranged family. I think the part that stays with you isn't even the separation itself. It's being made to carry the emotional consequences of adults' decisions. One parent wants you to choose them. The other wants you to accept the new life they have built. And somewhere between those two demands is this child thinking, “What about me? Where do I get to stand?” But you don't always get to ask. Instead, you learn to read the room. Who is hurting. Who needs comforting. What you can say. What you shouldn't. When to stay quiet. When to smile. You learn to make yourself easy to have around. You pretend things don't hurt because, perhaps somewhere along the way, you learn that your hurting would only make things harder for everyone else. And eventually, the smile becomes almost automatic. You become good at pretending you're okay. So good that people start believing you. You were the strong child. An okay child. And then you grow up. But some things grow up with you too. You still read the room before you read yourself. You notice the smallest change in someone's voice. You feel responsible for pain that isn't yours. You become so accustomed to holding space for everyone else, that asking someone to hold it for you feels almost selfish. And sometimes you don't even know you're doing it. M. | September 2026
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