It’s not unusual for people to turn to religious figures for comfort in difficult times. But when I saw my young daughter do it, I grew a little worried.

She was 5 at the time, and her father and I were separating. That’s when she turned to the nativity figurines I had set out for Christmas to play out the angst in our household.

I remember the night my husband told her he was leaving. After supper, when the table was cleared and dishes were done, after her bath was taken and jammies were on, the three of us sat at the maple kitchen table in the designated places we took for dinner each night. Our only child perched on her big-girl chair between us, sensing something was up.

He told her he loved her and that he always would — a promise he has kept — but that Mommy and Daddy couldn’t live with each other right now. I watched her eyes flood with tears and felt mine do the same. He told her he’d found a nice apartment, in the next town over, and that she’d be visiting him there.

A few days before, at a joint therapy session with the counselor I’d end up seeing for nine years, my husband had told me he needed to leave. To read more from CAROL WEIS, click here.