Back in the day, when a couple broke up, you either heard about it firsthand or had to endure an uncomfortable moment at an event where you asked someone where their significant other happened to be. However, in the social media era, many people choose to announce the breakup with a somber post or simply change their relationship status.

Chris and Tenia, a couple in the Columbia, South Carolina area, decided to have some fun with their breakup by doing a funny photoshoot and announcing it on a letter board, like a child starting a new grade at school. At first glance, it seems strange, but if people announce their engagement with a photoshoot, why not mark the pivotal moment when the couple goes their separate ways with some commemorative shots?

The photos, posted to Threads, are great because Chris and Tenia are posed as if they still love each other, wearing deadpan smiles as they stand back-to-back. “The relationship has ended, but the jokes will never!” Chris wrote in the caption. “We are returning each other back to the streets respectfully…”

Couple announces breakup with a funny photoshoot

The photoshoot was definitely a surprising way to announce their breakup, but many commenters praised the couple for their emotional maturity. While a lot of people in their situation would be at each other’s throats, they’re having fun with it.

“Take notes, lesbians. We can absolutely go our separate ways in peace,” cde_esq wrote.

“The level of maturity it takes to split amicably and still find and maintain a friendship is something a lot of people wouldn’t understand. All jokes aside, this is dope and a prime example that just because it ends romantically doesn’t mean it has to end platonically,” _shell_bell_22 wrote.

“Love this! This gives me faith in humanity lol, I love the idea of two nice folks realizing it doesn’t work romantically and it not becoming a toxic situation,” beetsoda wrote.

Chris and Tenia’s relationship ended after four and a half years because, according to Chris, they “realized recently we weren’t really happy, just going with the routine instead. We are on two different journeys but have the most respect and love for each other,” she told Queerty.

The breakup photos showed emotional maturity because they were clear and announced that the relationship was officially over. And as Brené Brown says, “Clarity is kindness.”

How to end your relationship with maturity

“When ending a relationship, it’s tempting to soften the blow with lines like, ‘Maybe in the future,’ or ‘I just need some time.’ But emotionally mature people know that dangling false hope only prolongs the pain,” relationship counselor Tina Fey writes in Eluxe Magazine. “Kindness doesn’t mean sugarcoating. It means balancing empathy with clarity. … It’s not about easing your guilt—it’s about giving them the gift of closure.”

Ultimately, it’s hard to see a relationship end, but Chris and Tenia seem to be handling it the best way possible. They used their breakup to show others that you can end a relationship and still treat each other with respect and a whole lot of humor.

A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a  gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing. 

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold. 

A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen. 

Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing. 

Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to  loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth. 

Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:

Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis 

Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community

Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or  in one of 60   countries where we work around the globe

Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door 

Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore

Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone. 

Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today. 

In 1913, American cartoonist Alfred Joseph Frueh sat down to write his wife a love letter. What he actually made was something else entirely.

The letter, which Frueh sent to his wife Giuliette Fanciulli, unfolds into an L-shaped miniature art gallery. There are tiny paintings on the walls, cursive text scrolled across the surfaces, and a coat check station at the entrance with a sign reading: “Leave your hats and umbrellas at home. I ain’t got time to check them.” Above a cut-out door trimmed in black: “This way in.”

The reason for all this was practical, in the most romantic way possible. Frueh was preparing his wife for an upcoming gallery marathon in Paris, and he built her a small preview of the space so she wouldn’t feel lost or overwhelmed when she arrived. He used collage, geometric folds, and careful cuts to simulate the experience of actually being in the gallery.

Cartoonist Alfred Joseph Frueh wrote this love letter to his wife Giuliette Fanciulli on January 10, 1913. When folded, it transforms into a mini art gallery model. Frueh created it to share details about a specific gallery before her visit. byu/dannydutch1 inUtterlyInteresting

Frueh was already known for working drawings and creative elements into his personal correspondence as he contributed to the New York World and later The New Yorker, and also made children’s furniture, pop-up cards, and cutouts. But this letter, originally a private thing between two people, is now preserved in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

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It’s worth sitting with the gesture for a moment. Not just the craft involved, but the attentiveness behind it. He knew his wife well enough to anticipate that a big Paris gallery marathon might be overwhelming, and instead of just saying “you’ll be fine,” he built her a map.

That’s the whole love letter. It’s just that the love letter happens to be a museum.

There’s a particular kind of clarity that comes after leaving a bad relationship. Things that seemed explainable at the time suddenly line up into an obvious pattern. The warning was always there. It just didn’t look like a warning yet.

Across social media thousands of people have shared the specific ‘red flag‘ moments they noticed early on but later regretting ignoring.

The “jokes” that weren’t jokes

“Constantly ‘joking’ about other people being better looking or smarter,” wrote one person on Reddit. “At first, I brushed it off as humor, but over time it became clear that those ‘jokes’ were actually digs at my self-esteem. Should’ve realized earlier that a relationship where someone makes you feel less than isn’t healthy.” The camouflage of humor is one of the most common delivery mechanisms for contempt, it gives the person plausible deniability while the cumulative damage adds up.

“When we first started dating, we went to a restaurant, and he spotted the server’s tip on the table and........

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