Mediate Michigan

I never expected my parents to split up. I know most children of divorce say that, but mine stuck it out all the way until I was in college. Sure, my dad slept in the guest room sometimes, but that’s because he snored…right?

My mom told me she and my dad were separating during Christmas break of my freshman year. That Christmas in particular, watching my parents exchange gifts with little jokes on the tags, guessing the Bruce Springsteen boxed set and Queen Cutlery knives before they opened them, I remember thinking just how lucky I was to have a mother and father who truly loved one another. We always did Christmas as a family of four; me, my folks, and my younger brother hauling the whole operation to my grandmother’s house three hours away.

via Carly Schwartz: New Traditions: Surviving The Holidays As A Child Of Divorce.