Generation X was raised in an environment where divorce was more rampant that at any other time in our nation’s history. That fact alone has shaped and molded an entire generation of children raised in “broken homes” and “step families.” Today, we are going to look at how divorce affected an entire generation of kids from their youth and well into their adult years.
A while back on the Wall Street Journal online, I found a testimonial that really speaks to what it was like to grow up as a child of divorce. The article by Susan Gregory Thomas, titled The Divorce Generation, recounts Ms. Thomas’ experiences in her own parents’ divorce, how that event has followed her throughout her life, and what it meant when she eventually divorced her own husband. In her story, we see many of the impacts that divorce has on children.
Her article starts with this sobering observation:
Every generation has its life-defining moments. If you want to find out what it was for a member of the Greatest Generation, you ask: “Where were you on D-Day?” For baby boomers, the questions are: “Where were you when Kennedy was shot?” or “What were you doing when Nixon resigned?”