Breakup season, a time when for many of us breakup sadness is at its height, begins in early November with the first whiff of the holidays. As Thanksgiving hype gets underway, cornucopias and all, we're reminded that the toasty warmth of family togetherness is fast approaching. Only this time it's coming during one of the unhappiest periods of our lives. All the recipe and turkey talk remind us of the precious person we won't be cooking for, nor will they be cooking for us. As Thanksgiving barrels through, we squirm, wiggle and wince, while standing (and sitting) on ceremony. We wake up to Black Friday, pass up on the leftovers, and spend the day in bed instead of at the mall.

Now we're in December and really in the thick of breakup season. Looking in the rear view mirror, we see that our pain was unmistakable to those around us. There was nowhere to hide. Looking forward on the horizon is Christmas and the holiday week from hell...because after all, we feel like we're in hell. We're expected to behave seasonally appropriate--merry and laser focused on gift lists, card mailers, and making the holiday party rounds. But we're so far from that mindset, that even being called Grinch wouldn't quite capture the extent of our miserable holiday spirit.

As Christmas Eve gently lifts everyone's mood around us, we would already be at our very lowest point if not for the impending final drop kick assured to knock us out cold. New Year's Eve is wearing army boots. And like it or not, we are going to hit the floor the way a knocked out boxer hits the canvas.

It takes some time to wake up from the New Year's blow. New Year's Day might just be the loneliest day of the year for a good number of us. If we're in cold weather, even worse. And if not, we're not that much better off. That sick sense in our stomachs that we're starting off the new year with pangs of sadness and nausea is intense.

All of January represents our epic struggle to pull our haggard broken body off the floor. By the end of January we're just going through the motions of a war weary, wounded soldier from the heartbreak front. There is one more insult to injury coming up--Valentine's Day. This is the day that confirms what many of us already know--that our relationship as we knew it really has ended. Valentines Day is the day we get the rubber stamp. As we go back and forth in our minds hoping the EX will give us a sign that will turn back the clock on the relationship, time just keeps on ticking. There is no mistaking reality here.

But Spring is around the corner and we're in for some tough, uninterrupted rehab, with one exception--birthday drama. But compared to the breakup season we've just been through, we'll handle it somehow.

Let's wish each other luck. We're in this together.

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