Around ten years ago, my mom walked into my bedroom to tell me something that would change both of our lives forever. "I met another man and we're gonna get married," she told me. I was shocked, angry, and sad all at once. How could she leave my dad? How could he let her, and who is this new man? Why was she crying too when she did this to our family? Even though my mom explained that she had to follow her heart, the strong conflicting emotions I had inside me wouldn't go away. The next day I was taken to school where I had to pretend nothing was wrong. Inside it felt like a professional boxer was beating my chest. And soon my teacher noticed I didn't look myself and asked me what was wrong. I said I was feeling sick and ran to the toilet where I spent the rest of the lesson in the stalls, trying to get control of my emotions. Though I couldn't understand why my mom would leave my dad, she told me how they'd been fighting for years and she happened to meet and fall in love with an amazing new man.

I decided that I'd give him a chance but couldn't help but worry about my dad and how he was gonna deal with this. He's always needed my mom, they were a team and we were meant to be a family. A couple of weeks passed before I was able to meet my mom's new partner. I didn't want to like him because I felt like if I did I'd be betraying my dad. Surely It was this new man's fault for breaking up my parents. But I soon learnt about how much he loves her and it became increasingly difficult for me to keep up my act. It didn't take much longer before I gave in.

More importantly I could see that he was a kind man Who also wanted to look after me and my sister? My dad fell into a depression following the divorce. Like me, he was dependent on my mom and with her gone so suddenly things became very difficult for him. There was such a deep level of guilt growing inside me for liking my new family, but dad told me not to feel that way and said there's enough room in my heart for two. Years passed before dad met Lindsay. One of the most patient and understanding people I've ever met. The guilt came back again – was I now betraying my mom for liking her? I spoke to mom about it. And she said the same thing dad had all those years ago: there's enough room in your heart for two. My dad and mom have now both been remarried for nearly a decade. I've got more siblings nieces and nephews than I can count on all my fingers and have learnt so much more from my new parents about life than I could have with just my own.

My life has been filled with more love than I thought possible, and I can't actually remember my own parents being so happy together as they are with their new partners. My parents divorce has taught me so many things, like even bad experiences have the potential to lead to good ones and I should use this mindset when confronting new problems. There's a popular statistic that about 50% of marriages end in divorce, and I used to think that this was the worst thing that could happen to relationships.

But now I know it's even worse for two people to stay together when they're no longer in love. The boxer in my chest still throws punches sometimes but now I understand the feelings of anger and hurt are only fleeting. Relationships don't always have to last forever. It's about the journey not the destination. And there's always room in your heart for more love..