The First Divorce In Our Family

The older I got, the older the rest of my family grew, as well.  It wasn't long before Phillip and Linda both got married, too, and we added two more people to our family, people who fit so well it was like they had always been part of us.  Sadly, about the same time Keith's wife left him.  It wasn't a big surprise, she had been brought up believing if your marriage wasn't perfect you just got a divorce and started over.  But still, it was heartbreaking.  Keith's mother-in-law hadn't particular liked Keith, and she constantly nudged her daughter toward divorce, even inviting her old boyfriend to come with them on a family trip to Rocky Point, but it still broke Keith's heart and totally floored me when she left.


I worried what a divorce in our family would do to mom and dad.  They were such good parents and had taught us about the sanctity of marriage, so I was afraid they would be really hurt.  I shouldn't have worried. Mom, especially, was fiercely loyal to her children, but even dad had a hard time accepting that someone had hurt his son.  One day not long after Keith's wife left dad noticed their wedding picture still hanging in the front room hall.  Angrily he turned to mom and exclaimed,  "Why don't you take that d___ woman's picture off our wall?" 


I also worried about how poor grandma Johnson would take a divorce in her family.  I shouldn't have been concerned.  Although by this time she was a frail 80 year old widow, her reaction was just as feisty as dad's.  When mom told her that Keith's wife had left him she exclaimed, "He better not have let that woman keep the quilt I made them for their wedding!"