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.