Divorce is not a collective subject, but the concept of loss is tangible to almost every person. No individual can experience life without suffering from loss, whether it is on a minute or grandiose scale. “Archives” is a short piece of creative non-fiction I wrote for a workshop during fall term, and it works to focus my personal experience with loss and expand it outward to an audience in a relatable manner. The piece is my rendition of the changes my parents and I made through experiencing divorce and losing a family, and I attempt to translate that concept into something that anyone could empathize with. “Archives” centers on the notion that loss is universal, and one of the most important part of the human condition is our ability to cope with, and eventually overcome, overwhelming hurt. The topic of loss has been documented repeatedly in many forms of media, and my challenge was to de-familiarize its connotations and create something new and tangible.