Children of divorce understand the world differently than those whose parents live happily ever after. We know that sometimes, people just aren't meant to be together, and we grow to accept that. We become defensive of our parents and anyone who comes into the picture later is not trusted easily. We measure time based on what parent we lived with, what boyfriend or girlfriend they had at the time, and how unstable our lives were at some points compared to others. We have seen our parents' hearts break before we have even fully developed our own.

To one of those people who we let in...

There have been a few of you, but you know which one I'm referring to. You came in when she needed it most, when she was a single mother in a vulnerable place, and you made her think that our troubles were over. Looking back now, they were all solvable without you. But you were the knight in shining armor saving a family in distress, and you made it so much easier. You were the superhero pulling us out of the dark. You made her promises and you wiggled yourself into every part of our lives. You won us all over; we let you help. You bought our house, you gave us gifts, you were the ultimate family man who could do no wrong. You flew her up and made her think she was on top of the world… but then you dropped her, landing lower than she ever had before for me to pick up the pieces. You left with no explanation for her to wonder. For me to tell her it wasn't her fault and for me to tell her everything would be all right. For me to hug her crying and bleeding and broken and put her back together. You put yourself into her life (twice) just to ruin it; you hurt us, you left us, and then you acted as though you were the victim. You took everything away that you had given us and more. You had police show up at our door on my 18th birthday. You left us homeless, car-less, joyless and with nothing to fend for ourselves. You took the light out of our lives when we should have been celebrating my high school graduation. You showed impressionable young girls what it meant to trust a man wholeheartedly and what it felt like to be betrayed. We will never forgive you.

You didn't just break her heart. You broke her children's, too.

Because of you, I know that I cannot ever fully depend on anyone but myself. My sister and I will defend our mother before anyone else (even though she's awesome and strong and doesn't need us to) and none of us, especially her, will let anyone put us in a vulnerable position again. And while I’d love to get the chance to key your car or punch you in the throat, it wouldn’t be worth it to have to acknowledge your existence.