When Liam’s parents split, he was about 12. They’d been arguing for years, and he mostly remembered the sound of shouting. He explains “there was one particularly big row just before I was about to go into secondary school, and my dad stormed out and then subsequently moved out the house as well in a very short span of time. “
He didn’t talk about it
It was a confusing and angry time. “It happened at a very formative time in my life,” he realised recently that he’d never spoken to anyone about it, definitely not his parents, but there was one exception “The only person I talked to was my younger brother, and even then, it was more about checking if he was okay than talking about how I felt.“
He bottled it all up
For years, he told himself it wasn’t a big deal — that divorce was so common it didn’t really matter. But the truth is, it does. “It can affect you in ways that you might not have even understood.” Joining Your Direction was the first time I’d actually spoken about it openly, and it made me realise how much I’d bottled up.
Talking helped
Talking about it helped him reconnect with my brother too. “It’s made me sort of re-evaluate and look at my own family relationships, it was a bit overdue, but actually nice to get it off my chest.”
He found moving between homes really hard
One of the hardest things back then was moving between homes. “I hated it… having to pack up on a Thursday to stay somewhere else for a few days. I never wanted to hurt either parent, but it always felt like choosing sides. “I like being at my mum’s house. But then I recognised that would make my dad feel bad. Eventually, when I was 16, I decided to live with my mum full-time, visiting my dad when I wanted.“
Now he sees his parents differently
As he’s grown older, he has started to see his parents differently. “It’s like having two parents instead of one unit… two separate people with two separate lives.” That shift in thinking has helped him let go of guilt and anger.
And he’s become closer to his brother
Liam’s close relationship with his brother has been really important “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the importance of staying connected — especially with your siblings. Do your best to try and maintain that relationship with them as best you can, I’d say. Even if things with your parents are complicated, having a good relationship with your brother or sister can really help.“
Open up and rely on others to help you
You don’t have to struggle with your parents separation on your own. Liam did Your Direction and he found opening up really helped. “You can’t get stuff off your chest purely by dealing with it yourself, I’ve learned. You do have to, at some stage, open up and rely on other people to help you out.” Whether that’s family, friends, or someone who simply listens, talking really does make a difference.