It is sad to see another young family breaking apart. Suddenly, a For Sale sign on the front lawn. Surprising all the neighbours, hardly expecting to see yet another house on this street go up for sale. Dividing the family assets. It cannot have been more than eight years since they moved in. At that time there was only one child; two more followed, a family of three young children.

If there was ever someone of whom it could be said he represented a perfectly doting father, capable of doing everything emotional and practical for his children that their mother did, it would be this father. And he was also that rarity, a uxorious man, proud of and devoted to his wife.

He, relaxed of temperament, a smiling glad-hander, and she with obvious ambition to succeed, and the energy and enterprise to make it happen. A good fit, one might hazard a guess, since both are extroverts. But not really, it would appear, since his lack of ambition to succeed in the job market simply did not match hers.

He worked for a car-leasing agency, and it's seen a downturn of late. She worked diligently as a mother and homemaker, taking on additional paid tasks, offering after-school day-care to other peoples' children and becoming adept at, and teaching other young mothers the ins-and-outs of scrap-booking. From her they would get their handicraft supplies and learn the aesthetics of presentation of family 'mementos'.

It's a micro-tragedy that the marriage has collapsed, and the children left confused and having to adapt to loving and depending upon their parents in separate circumstances rather than the emotionally-bonding union they've always known and derived comfort from.