Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

One of the things I get to do by having two teens still in high school is compare what they do with what we did. It helps keep my high school years fresh in my mind.

Anyway, the other day my son told me about a friend of his who had broken up with his girlfriend and how hard it was for his friend. Usually at times like this I try to bite my tongue and not pooh pooh their experiences like they're no big deal, or give them advice like "You haven't seen anything yet" . It is traumatic for them, just as it was for us. They know the grown up world is ahead of them and holds all kinds of problems, but they have enough trouble getting through the world they're in now to spend too much time worrying about what lays ahead.

Obviously breaking up is not as hard as the divorce that statistics say is waiting for some of them and I'm not trying to compare them. Divorces have a lot more at stake, but think back for a second. Breaking up wasn't exactly a walk in the park. I've gone through both and I can tell you about the scars I got from each one. Breaking up may not cut as deep, but at the time it sure felt like it.

Just think about it. Remember how you tried to arranged things so you could be near that special person as much as possible, maybe even to the point of where you sat in a particular class. So what could rub more salt into a wound than having to plop down in the seat right next to them everyday in Civics or whatever after you've broken up? Or finding yourself dialing their number out of habit when you picked up the phone. Or how about your friends, the ones who knew you both and at least for a time felt uncomfortable around both of you because they don't want to choose sides?

Yep, the hazards of grown up life are very dangerous, but high school had pit falls all it's own. And if you went together a long time I dare you to try and tell me that it doesn't still bother you just a little bit when you think of it now. Of course it does.