Excerpt:

My sister and I were sitting at the top of the stairs on Christmas Eve listening to my parents argue. All of a sudden, my mom drops the mother of all bombshells. “I don’t love you anymore, is that what you needed to hear to know this is over? I don’t love you anymore, it’s over.” My father began to cry, not typical for the type of man my father was. He didn’t let his feelings get the best of him, ever. There was only one other time I have heard my father cry and that was when Grampi had passed away. There was really nothing my father could say to the news mom had just told him. We heard him head to the stairs and my sister and I flew to our bedroom. He came up and opened our door to make sure we were asleep, our eyes were closed but we were very much awake. When we heard my parent’s bedroom door shut, Katie and I just looked at each other. All this time we didn’t think my father cared, I guess when my mother said what she said it brought out emotions in my father we didn’t know he was capable of having. I would not know this raw emotion myself until years later when I was married myself.