"Don't take the people you love for granted," was a quote I heard quite often from my father growing up. As a child, I always wondered, "why would anyone want to be with only one person for the rest of their lives?" If you would've asked me, what is love? I probably would have said, "love is my mom and dad." I never understood what love meant. That all changed on March 5th when I received a video chat request from my father. He was dressed as if he was leaving and was pacing back and forth in the hallway. I didn't understand what was going on. He hesitated to tell me what was going on. Just by looking at his face I knew something was wrong. He was livid, and his demeanor was just off. I asked him what was wrong, and that was when he told me my mother had cheated on him. I felt a whirlwind of emotions in my body. My legs got weak, and I had to take a knee. We were devastated. The only other time I saw my father cry was when his sister passed away. My heart was hurt, but his heart was shattered into a million pieces. .
All of sudden, my mother comes out like a bat out of hell, cussing my father out for finding out what she had done. After arguing for nearly two hours, my father left the house and got into his car. The arguing wasn't new to me since for years it was a routine. Hearing about my mother's infidelity was the worst part of the situation. I put my mother on a high pedestal. I thought she couldn't do anything wrong my heartfelt damaged, and I knew my father's felt the same. They have been married for twenty-one years. I couldn't see my parents being with anyone else. What was extremely surprising was that my father not once blamed my mother. Everything didn't sink in because in my head I felt she was 100% wrong. Then that infamous quote I heard all my life came out his mouth, "don't take the people you love for granted." He mentioned not giving my mother the attention she deserved, the alone time she wanted.
