My whole life I always thought we were missing something by not being a “nuclear family.” All throughout high school I was always hyperaware of how different many of my peers’ and friends’ families were from my own. Of course there were broken homes, and everyone had their own story to tell. But most of my friends in high school had two-parent, very well-off, stable families. And so at every playdate, every birthday party, and every graduation party, I was acutely reminded of just how my family and upbringing didn’t look like theirs.
