One Fateful Decision A familiar saying goes, Everybody makes mistakes.

Some were meant to happen; others were irrational. However, there comes a time for one to consider the consequences of those actions. Although she did make a mistake, it could have been reasonably prevented, reasonably thought beforehand. My mother had not the slightest idea of how she affected her son's life. She had managed to directly cause hatred from the both sides of the family and ultimately receiving a harsh split in marriage. On the night of the son's thirteenth birthday, his family on his father's side came over to celebrate the birthday party. It was a night full of fun and laughter. They played games, watched movies, danced to songs, played basketball and hide-and-seek. The parents were outside in the spacious living room, drinking some tea and watching an Asian movie. They ate scrumptious and hearty meals at the conclusion of the afternoon. Shortly after, the son's parents brought out butter bread as his birthday cake, as it was his favorite dessert. It was crazy how he had to divide a foot and a half long pound cake into 18 pieces, but it was possible and delicious. When it neared the time for every to go home and get ready for work, his uncle stayed to talk to his father and mother. The son was told to go into his sister's room, for this subject was for adults only. He complied, and soon enough, the door to his sister's room was closed. Yet even though the room was shut off from the outside world, he still heard sounds, sounds of yelling. It came from his parents and the uncle. Whatever had happened in there, he did not know. Eventually, the door was opened, and he was told to go to sleep in his own room by his father. As he lay in his bed, he could not help but hear his mother crying, and curiosity made him venture out of his room and into his mothers room. He found his mother in the fetal position in the corner, bawling. Shortly after, my mother sprang up and ran over to her neighbors house, saying that she was trying to get away from the abuse that happened in that room. Whether she was trying to make a scene or was speaking the truth, it wasnt certain. The son ended up following her over

to the neighbors house. He heard her tell her neighbor to call the police. He saw her shaking. He saw her shivering. He felt pain seeing her like that, but he had no idea what had happened and just thought she was cold. After a few minutes, he heard sirens coming for the police car. His mother jumped up and ran across into her house, and he knew for sure it was just to create a scene. The officer came into the house and asked the son a question that he was most afraid of and dreaded: who do you want to live with, your mother or father? He chose his father. Surely enough, a divorce was to be made as quickly as possible. The effects the divorce had a long lasting, malignant role in their sons life. Time was split between his mother and father; he spent only three days with his father every two weeks, compared to the other eleven days with his mother. Christmas and New Years were split into two. He would spend Christmas with his father one year, his mother the next, and it would switch every year. He experienced continuous stress from the lies given on the sides of both parties. His mother did not allow him to talk to his father every night, telling him to lie to his father, saying that the son was busy doing chores when in reality, he wasnt. His father told him to lie about how he came to visit his son during lunch and would buy him food from nearby fast food restaurants, when in reality, he was. Economic problems also arose. Since the household only has one income (his mother, as she took custody of the son), money was limited. He had to make do with less shopping, yet his mother and sister would continue shopping. He had to be frugal, whereas his mother and sister would think name brand items. Many of the commodities that were once necessities were now not mandatory. The son even went through difficulty in school. During his junior high school years, he struggled to pay attention to teachers lectures, important announcements, and homework. His grades slowly dropped. The stress proved painful and distracting to him. He became less social; he did not have many friends to talk to when he needed it most. He had no one to alleviate the burden

of the divorce to. After the divorce, his mothers side of the family started hating the son. The main justification for the hatred was due to the fact that the son begged the officer to stay with his father on that fateful night. His mothers brother and sister arrived on the scene to see him beg to be with his father, not his mother. They were bewildered at him. The son had always heard that his father cheated on his mother, would beat her at certain times, and brought the family in debt of nearly ten thousand dollars. But he never believed it. He even heard of his mother cheating, but he still did not believe that. The son just wanted to get away from the hatred that was exhibited on that night, which caused further resentment from his mother's family. His mom would always bad mouth his father, would always make him lie to his father, would always place her own son to make a decision that went against his morals, placing him in the middle between right and wrong. The next two years after the divorce proved harsh and full of stress. News of his mother's actions caused widespread fear and anger onto the father's side. When his fathers family heard that their brother (or the sons father) tried to suicide by overdosing on medication, everyone felt pain. The son would always be lectured by his aunts and uncles, telling him to never listen to his mother. He was made to tell almost all actions of his mother in front of the group. He would endure countless hours of it. This further augmented the stress for the son for being placed in the middle. The divorce lead to less time being spent with his father's family. He would always miss birthdays of his cousins. He would always miss random get-together parties. He would always miss Christmas and New Years. He rarely had a sleep over at his home because none of his aunts and uncles would allow their child to sleep over due to fear. In fact, at times even he wasnt allowed to sleep over at his cousins house because they were afraid he was like his mother. Nowadays, anger between the two families have subsided a few, but their fear remains. The economic conditions have improved. The son grew closer to his father. His grades have improved

significantly. His stress has decreased, but visible signs of the stress remain as white strands of hair on his head. He learned to cope with his fear, his stress, his pain and suffering. He learned to put aside on the lies and immoralities that he was required to do. He made more friends to whom he could talk to and lessen his burden. His fathers morals and character have improved. His mother learned to put away some of the anger that she had to her old husband. This life had turned around for the better, when all hope seemed bleak. This life changed who he was and how he thought. This life was mine.