Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Musings on Marriage
Last week Karen's folks celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. 64 years! Can you imagine?
We're closing in on a 38th anniversary ourselves, but sadly, over the years we've watched a boatload of marriages fall by the wayside. And the norm for our kids growing up was very much the two household extended family.
Here's what I found interesting. The key distinction they came to recognize was not between married and divorced parents, but between amicable divorced parents and angry, resentful divorced parents. No divorce, I suspect, is easy. But Karen and I have marveled at a number of divorced friends who've managed to move past the trauma of separation -- sometimes for the kids and sometimes for other karmic reasons -- and forged a new relationship with one another, akin to friendship, filled with affection, mutual respect and a little humor. It's a gift.
Anyway, the other day I came across a sweet, candid, non-political posting from Arianna Huffington on this very subject. I thought it worth sharing.
We're closing in on a 38th anniversary ourselves, but sadly, over the years we've watched a boatload of marriages fall by the wayside. And the norm for our kids growing up was very much the two household extended family.
Here's what I found interesting. The key distinction they came to recognize was not between married and divorced parents, but between amicable divorced parents and angry, resentful divorced parents. No divorce, I suspect, is easy. But Karen and I have marveled at a number of divorced friends who've managed to move past the trauma of separation -- sometimes for the kids and sometimes for other karmic reasons -- and forged a new relationship with one another, akin to friendship, filled with affection, mutual respect and a little humor. It's a gift.
Anyway, the other day I came across a sweet, candid, non-political posting from Arianna Huffington on this very subject. I thought it worth sharing.
# posted by goots @ 2:43 PM 
