We all want family to be a source of love and support but there are times that relationships within families become strained or broken. The worst feeling is when your own family turns their back on you, such as been the case for many following the recent presidential election. Sadder yet is the distance that grows when there is a complete breakdown of communication and there’s a failure with being a good person while treating others with respect regardless if your particular political choice won, or lost.

Even in fractured families, communication is everything and, with that, it is never acceptable to attack, demean or treat others in a disrespectful manner. A broken family doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with the people in it, regardless of any heated emotions involved. Too often, there is just a breakdown in productive communication which leaves opposing sides glaring at each other from a distance. Sadly, the damage left brings fragments of loneliness and heartbreak unless we take positive steps to rebuild what was lost and focus on forgiveness, the first step in any broken family’s journey of healing.

Broken families don’t have to, and shouldn’t, stay that way forever. Experiences can make us stronger if we give them the room to grow. A broken family isn’t the end, rather than an opportunity for a new beginning. Love doesn’t stop with damaged family ties, it just gets redirected as each family has the chance for new beginnings.

From the Writer’s Workshop: Write a post in exactly 11 sentences.

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