So, I was listening to music and got this idea. Music helps me understand some of my characters on a totally different level. And sometimes I manage to find THAT song— the one that perfectly describes a character, their feelings, and/or things they’ve gone/are going through.
THE song right now is Help Me Remember by Rascal Flatts. It just fits the situation of my minor characters, Tobias and Lucienne Rainier, from the Beware Of Dog series.
They were married once and have three surviving children. They loved each other. There can never be a question about that. But, after their youngest daughter was killed in a tragic accident, their family fell apart. They both felt like failures as parents because their eldest daughter left home at 18, their oldest son deals with severe depression and anger issues, and their youngest son also struggles with severe depression, as well as all of the kids (and them too) struggling with low senses of self-worth and intense guilt.
Tobias and Lucienne ultimately divorced after their surviving youngest left the nest. The pain and guilt grew to be too much and their relationship fell apart. They both wish so much that things could have been different and that they could have stayed a happy couple.