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About a month ago, I de-FOO'd. It was an email I sent to my parents, saying basically that I feel sad, anxious, and angry around them and I need to take time away from the family in order to resolve my issues. This came after several conversations where I told them how I feel and the issues I have with the punishments I received as a child, which were replied to with every rationalization, justification, and attack in the book. My dad even called me a religious fanatic for kicking people out of my life who don't share my values. (I had recently dropped most of my friendships after similar conversations.) Anyways, I have just had a birthday pass and Thanksgiving, too, and soon it will be Christmas that I will be spending without my FOO for the first time. I am having a lot of mixed emotions, feelings of guilt, anger, and anxiety, but also joy. Thanksgiving was a wonderful day spent with my girlfriend and I felt thankful that she and I were free to be ourselves together. I didn't have a purpose for this post before writing, but I felt like putting it out there because maybe you have gone through your first de-FOO'd holiday season, or maybe this, too, is your first. In either case I think its a brave step to take whenever you get corrupt people out of your life.