DIVORCE PARTY
Recently a rock star and his model wife (ah, yes, that old tried and tested union never grows tired) have recently announced their divorce after six years of marriage. But, unlike most couples that are putting on the boxing gloves and beefing up their arsenal for a knock down drag out battle, this couple is throwing themselves a divorce party on their sixth wedding anniversary. As they see it, they’re celebrating and honoring the time they had together, the things they did well, and are launching into the future as friends and good parents to their two children. That’s what the press release said anyway; they could just be so excited to be rid of one another they want to let their hair down and break out the Jack Daniels.
Pushing my jaded tinted glasses aside, I must admit that I do love their celebratory sentiment in light of a situation that often can be traumatic, sticky, and altogether unpleasant. I’m talking about divorce, not marriage. (I suppose I still can’t shake the thought however that if they’re so darn amicable, why couldn’t they make the marriage work??) No one wants to get divorced, but most people do it today far too easily, I mean after one fight easily. But if one finds themselves at the point of separation after exhausting all other options, I think a party could just be what the divorce lawyers ordered. Why the hell not celebrate making it as far as you have – probably further than the rest of the neighborhood. And one might as well break out the bubbly and CD collection and get some use out of it before you have to start dividing it up.
Unfortunately taking the amicable route these days, although highly commendable and mature, is incredibly rare. [It’s amazing how divorce brings out the utter immature MORON in people]. Most couples careen into that swamp of bitterness and revenge so quickly that you find yourself wondering what held these two together in the first place.
My parents divorced after 39 years of marriage. Okay, my sisters and I didn’t throw them a party or anything, but we all were proud of how long they lasted and of course more proud of how well they handled the divorce. In fact, to this day, they’re still friends and even vacation together – I know, it’s odd, but can be fairly amusing. Don’t get me wrong, the transition had its bumps, but compared to most, they did pretty darn well. I figure, if one has made the leap into forever more, and took a vow promising for better or worse, the least you can do is figure out how to be friends once the ‘worst’ rears its ugly head.