Generation X, Less Happy, Why? Essay, Research Paper
Generation X, Less Happy, Why?
Nowadays divorce is so common it’s hard for people to try hard, fight
through their problems and make a marriage last when there’s such an easy way
out, divorce. Marriages of earlier generations were sometimes happier, because
divorce wasn’t the immediate anecdote to family or marital problems. I come to
this conclusion from hearing about my moms childhood.
My grandparents have stayed together to this day regardless of their
problems which made my moms childhood happier. One incident which illuminates
my moms childhood being happier is when my grandpa had to take care of the kids
because my grandmother was in the hospital. It was great for my mom to have her
own father take care of them instead of being left with an aunt or a close
family friend.
My grandmother was told she’d be in the hospital for a couple of weeks ,
it ended up being three. This was the first time she was separated from her
children, and the first time my grandpa, the businessman, had to take care of
the house and kids. All the household duties changed and it was hectic, my
grandpa had to take on the mother role. He had to make breakfast for the kids,
pack their lunches, go grocery shopping, help with homework and take the kids to
school. My mom who was only nine was the only girl so they made her make the
beds and clear the table. Those three weeks were hell, for all of them. For my
grandpa it was difficult to take care of everything and work over forty hours a
week. For the children it was hard to be separated from mom. All my
grandmother did was worry the whole time about the kids, the house and my
grandpa probably having a nervous breakdown.
It was very difficult, but this incident brought all of them closer, in
a way. My grandmother missed her family as much as they missed her. My mom and
uncles also became a lot closer to my grandfather. Overall this experience
showed my grandparents how much they loved, missed, and needed each other but it
was better when they handled things together and then they knew they made the
right decision by staying together. This experience, in a way, showed them what
it would be like if they were divorced or separated, lonely, sad, and very
unpleasant. Maybe divorce wouldn’t have been as bad as they thought but I’m
glad they thought that way for my moms sake and my own. It may be naive but in
the end it opened their eyes and my mom thinks her childhood was happier because
of it, and I believe her.
In conclusion, earlier generations may have thought divorce was a crime
and may not have known as much as we do but if they were happier like that maybe
we should have never learned.