“A relationship is the way two or more people are connected or the way they behave toward each other“- Cambridge Dictionary

I never thought I could be in a healthy or happy relationship. Not even necessarily a romantic one, but just a friendship.

My parents divorced when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I thought it was just a small argument out of many that they would get over, but this one was different. It was longer, louder, and lonelier. I thought that my parents would be together forever. It was completely unexpected and still to this day, I don’t have the reason why. Sometimes I questioned if it was my fault. Both of my parents had completely different explanations for why it happened. I didn’t know who to believe. All I knew was that my once-perfect family was broken.

I saw a post one day that said that your future relationships will be similar to your parents’ relationship. I hoped that it wasn’t true. However, I thought about it. And maybe it was true.

I met this girl during freshman year at school through mutual friends. She soon became my best friend and we grew closer and closer. But after we both transferred schools, we grew apart and hung out with different crowds. After the first, last time we met up after transferring schools, we went to a mall and she wanted to borrow $40 which I let her because I thought we were best friends. However, after months of not speaking, I was low on cash and decided to ask her for the $40 back. After about 40 minutes, she blocked me on everything. It felt as if our friendship was being flushed down the drain. It hurt really bad but after meeting my current best friend, I got over it. On some days I see the matching teddy bear, keychain, and t-shirts we got and it brings back memories. But it was for the better.

I now realize that it takes both sides in order to keep a strong happy relationship going. Blaming yourself for everything is not the solution,, but also makes you feel terrible and guilty. Sometimes things happen for a reason and that’s okay. A few things I like to do is listen to music and walk my dog outside to distract myself from any situations going on. Talking to someone about your frustrations and focusing on other parts of your life is also a good way to cope.