In life, people may act like everything is okay, but the “truth” is never far from the surface.

As he was growing up, it appeared that Matt Kelly’s parents got along. But as Kelly (’12) grew older, he began to notice his parents’ relationship disintegrating. Arguments became common and it was evident the two weren’t enjoying each other’s company.

During his junior year in high school, Kelly’s parents came to the conclusion that they were going to separate and file papers for a divorce.

Like other divorce situations, Kelly and his family were faced with the problem of living arrangements. In Kelly’s situation, his father was the one to move out and buy his own place.

For Matt, the decision to stay with his father was easy, “My relationship [with dad] was always stronger.” However, Kelly has a twin sister named Megan who decided to stay in his mother’s house.

While Kelly did not have to move to another town, he did have to adjust to not seeing his twin sister, the other half of him, all of the time. “We never really got along, we were like two completely different people,” Kelly says.

While the move separated the two, it also surprisingly made their relationship stronger. “I don’t get to see her as much, so we became closer since we weren’t seeing each other 24/7 like we were used to,” he says, with a calm tone of voice.

Kelly’s parents still do not get along and lost most respect for each other. They each went on with their own lives and left the past to be the past. Thankfully, this experience has not made Kelly fear relationships. “I’ve seen good relationships last as well as the negative,” he says simply.