They feel inadequate and abandoned. The family is the foundation of their identity. They have a feeling of life and death about being close to them. The child's worst fear is about losing connection to a parent. To get from the physical divorce to the emotional divorce takes two years.
Most people marry for better and for worse.
They expect and hope for permanence and for their spouse to make them happy. When that doesn't happen, people feel betrayed and hurt. And I'm amazed at how well people do. Reporters Read about our reporters and the neighbourhoods they are focusing on. The Family Matters series appears Fridays until September, 2000.