A note about your divorced friends this holiday season. It’s possible it sucks for them.
It’s possible they are having to swallow down tears because they have to spend their holidays with a toxic person in order to allow their kids to have both parents present for their celebrations.
OR,, it’s possible they don’t get their kids on Christmas eve, or Christmas morning, and they spend that time sitting in the grief of not having their children with them.
It’s possible they aren’t invited to celebrations with people they considered family for most of their adult life because divorce sometimes means losing inlaws, too.
It’s possible longstanding traditions with couple friends are awkward, fractured, or just plain canceled.
It’s possible they are overwhelmed because pulling off Christmas with kids but without a partner is exhausting.
It’s possible they are incredibly lonely.
It’s possible they will spend Christmas morning watching their kids open gifts, but with nothing under the tree for them.
It’s possible every Christmas card with a photo of a happy couple feels like a punch in the gut.
it’s possible – and probable – that their life looks nothing like they ever thought it would, and that the holidays are a stark reminder of that, no matter how well they’re dealing with things the rest of the year.
Go easy on your divorced friends. Reach out. Include them. Check in on them. Take their kids shopping for something for mom if you know their ex won’t. Listen. Let them vent. Let them off the hook. Let them be angry, and bitter, and sad. It’s harder than you can imagine.
Photo by Gabriel Garcia Marengo on Unsplash
