There are small things that mean bigs things in a relationship. Are you in a relationship with someone that during an argument or when you are attempting to express your feelings: Walks out of the room or out of the house? Sits silently with absolutely no response? Hangs up the phone on you? Dismisses you…

It is Saturday and I am meeting a friend at our local coffee shop. We sit at a table in the corner. The fireplace next to us adds warmth to this cold winter morning. We clutch our coffee cups as we chat with a friend at the table next to us. We are talking about…

One cold night on the streets of Scranton, Pennsylvania, me and my husband make our way home from a college party. Of course, at this point he is my boyfriend. The streets of Scranton are packed with the usual cast of characters. Yes, the town of Scranton really is as eccentric as the television show,…

“I’d like to pay for the car behind us,” says my son, Tommy. The woman collecting the toll smiles, shuffles the money once again and obliges his wish. Just moments before we vie for a space as we attempt to merge in line to pay the toll. Our leisurely car ride listening to music and…

I find a lot of doors closing for me. The truth is they have been closing for me for quite some time only I wouldn’t let them. I have done everything to stop it. I have put my foot in the door. I shove back. I bang on them. It’s hopeless. I need to finally…

My friends “Trixie” and “Loretta” are moving stuff around my house. One grabs a chair and scoots it towards my fireplace. The other grabs a lamp and places it on the piano. They are decorators who in the loving friendship of divorce have offered to give my home a makeover. Loretta scopes the room as…

I was listening to one of Father Hope’s sermons recently. “When things seem to be their darkest that’s when God is most at work,” he says. Divorce is certainly dark. As usual, his sermon fills me with hope. A negative time is turned into a positive. My perspective shifts. God has certainly been busy in…

I have this best guy friend from high school. I will call him, “Daughtry” since he reminds me of the singer. He will love this reference. Not long after I begin this whole divorce process (days actually) he’s knocking on my front door. It is no matter that he lives all the way in Connecticut.…

I’ve always respected an individual’s choice to stay at home or work. After all, these are intensely personal decisions which are often shaped by our own life experiences. I am fortunate that I have never met a working woman who has judged me for my choice to stay at home. I am equally as fortunate…

It is completely unnatural to sort through our parents home once they leave us. It is counter intuitive to rip the puzzle pieces apart when we grow up needing them all to fit lovingly together. My brother and sisters and I tried to respectfully honor both our mom and our own memories. We traced the…

More from Beliefnet and our partners
More from Beliefnet and our partners