The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

I've spent only one Christmas alone — and by "alone," I mean myself and three young kids.

I was recently divorced. My parents were visiting my sister's family in Philadelphia. And my ex-husband, a "recovering" Catholic and practicing alcoholic at the time, had slid into his annual holiday slump. This is how I found myself in a movie theater Christmas Eve, with my three all lined up and feeling — I'm sure — a lot less melancholy about the situation than I.