Thanks for waiting

Dear mom and dad,

Thanks for waiting

Until I was “grown”

To get divorced

Not that it was easy

To watch my family implode

Like some distant star

Spiraling toward the horizon

And its inevitable demise

I’m thankful I avoided the carnage

Of being stretched to despair

So you could move on and do

What was “best” for you

No shuttling between houses

Yet never being home

On a schedule that

Few adults could manage

Or better yet, endure

No wondering if gifts were

Given in love

Or as rival acts of one-upmanship

No pretending not to hear the

Whispered warfare

Or the insinuations from the

Unseen member of a phone conversation

I’m so grateful I avoided the

Innumerable counseling sessions

To explore my feelings

While ultimately being manipulated

To believe

That things are better “this way”

I can’t say I’m happy

About the way our family

Turned out, but

Thanks for waiting