Mariah was just shy of her third birthday when her mother left her father — a Dear John letter, and Mariah in tow. They were gone for about six months. Then her parents reconnected, tried again, and that reunion held together, in name, until she was 13. What lived inside that decade of "trying again" was anything but simple. Home was tumultuous. Home was toxic. Both parents were struggling with mental illness they didn't yet have language for and self-medicating in ways Mariah wouldn't fully understand until much later.

The role Mariah ended up in during those years is one many adult children of divorce will recognize instantly: sounding board. From the time she was small, she was the person her mother turned to — hoping, quietly, that her mom would share more with her friends and less with her. She sacrificed parts of her childhood to comfort her mother. Twice a year, like clockwork, her mother would unhinge and start planning to leave — and Mariah would get roped into the packing, the plotting, the emotional labor of an exit that then wouldn't happen. In sixth grade, Mariah did the math and realized it was a cycle. That's when she started tuning her mother out — building a shell so the emotions couldn't reach her. It kept her safe.

In seventh grade, her mother upended everything for a rekindled romance with someone who wasn't Mariah's dad. Sadly, it was during the first time Mariah remembers feeling stable — she had friends, life felt good. Her relationship with her dad, until that point, had been the relationship of a stranger. He was an addict; he was always disconnected. He was always kind about her and positive toward her — but she was starved for his attention. Later on she was sent from her mom to go live with him. By then, he was sober. In those years together, Mariah bonded with her father for the first time, and she was exposed to AA and NA meetings that had a profound impact on her life — grace, motivation, and a template for staying clean in a family that had never modeled it. Her dad later relapsed. But the connection they built in that window was something she'd never had before, and it stayed.

Mariah ended up back with her mom for part of high school, and the rollercoaster picked up right where it had left off. What she's built since is inspiring in a way that isn't loud — she's a reflective, honest, wide-open woman raising three daughters with the love, care, and support she wasn't given herself. Considering every other way her path could have gone, the joy she carries now is the whole point of this episode.

About Mariah: Mariah Sheridan Runions is a mom to three girls, an entrepreneur (author, realtor, dancer, leader), and a chaser of expansion and growth. She's navigating a messy divorce while trying to remember what it felt like to be on the "kid" end of this experience.

She's currently editing her memoir — and you can pre-order the book on her website.

Find Mariah: Website: MariahRunions.com

Instagram: @mariah_in_fernie

Facebook: facebook.com/mariah.runions

In Between Them is a podcast about what it really feels like to grow up between two homes — hosted by Shannon Darrow, divorce coach and mediator, featuring honest conversations with people about what their parents' divorce shaped, broke, and built in them.

Have a question, a story to share, or interested in being a guest? Reach Shannon directly at [email protected].

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