After the divorce, my 14-year-old son asked to live with his dad. I didn’t fight it—I just wanted him to be happy and healthy. I still stayed close and tried and tried to be there for him as much as I could.
But then the calls started coming in… teachers telling me his grades were slipping, that he wasn’t looking well. The next day, I went straight to his school. He got in my car, and my heart sank—he looked exhausted.
I asked what was going on, and what he told me absolutely broke me. He admitted that his dad hadn’t been home in weeks. He had been staying at his new girlfriend’s house, leaving my son to fend for himself—buying his own food with his allowance, washing his own clothes, and sleeping in a big, empty house all alone. He said he was too ashamed to call me because he didn’t want to admit he made a mistake choosing his dad.
I didn’t even take him back to pack. We went straight to my house, and I called my lawyer on the way. The guilt on his face when he asked if I was mad at him shattered my heart all over again. I held him and told him none of this was his fault. Today, he’s back with me full-time, his grades are up, and that smile I missed so much has finally returned. He’s a child, and he never should have had to be the adult.
