You should know that Natalie and Philip were enrolled at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, freshman and junior respectively, and that Natalie was really unhappy there. Not in the oh-she’ll-be-fine-in-a-month way, either. She was in the middle of her second term, and planning to transfer. Still, it was difficult for her to be there, which meant many tearful (for her) and heartbreaking (for me) phone calls.
You should know that I was separated from my husband, Phil, and living on the top floor of my friend Nadiya’s house; that Phil and I get along well; that he lives in the house that we own. That Natalie lived with me when she wasn’t at school, simply because I’m home more often than Phil, and I have a better wardrobe than he does. That Philip did not live on campus, but rented a house nearby with some friends. That when he did come home, he stayed with Phil.
© 2013 Denise Smyth
Forever 21 