Both of my parents are divorced, living 3 hours apart in separate cities. I had to pretty much grow up to be about 25 or 30 years old in 2 years when I was 14. It was up to me to be the second parent to my siblings, no matter where we were. I had to (and still have to) drive back and forth between the cities, chauffeuring my siblings and I between one house where my father lives alone, throwing himself into his work out of a depressive loneliness that he has been suffering under for the better part of 5 years, and another house where my mother is constantly having parties, sleeping with her boyfriend that she hooked up with before the divorce was official, and caring for my grandmother who can’t get a job due to her age. Most of my life has been a massive lesson in how I can best distract myself from the mountain of toxicity and arguments right outside my bedroom door.