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| Ok, I know this is kind of a wierd photo and I debated posting it, but I just had to show - is this cake not disturbing?! I mean, I'm all for finding humour in a crappy situation, but methinks this might be pushing it a tad far? Thoughts? |
That's right, I come from a broken home. Poor me.
I'm kidding of course. To be honest, knowing what I know now, my parents getting divorced was (take a deep breath) THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME. And to my mom. I firmly believe I wouldn't be half as mature, independent, and close to my mom as I am now if my parents stayed together.
That being said, divorce is never something I would wish on anyone because it can be an extremely confusing, conflicting and traumatizing, especially for the children involved. An extremely disruptive life event like a divorce can have lasting effects that people try to alleviate by hopping from couch to couch or bed to bed.
Divorce effing sucks.
Which is why, even though I have a rather cynical, untraditional viewpoint on marriage and part of me is grateful I went through one, it really saddens me whenever I hear of couples divorcing. Especially couples that have kids and that have been together for decades.
It even saddens me when I hear that it's happened to people I've never met, never will meet, and generally speaking, don't give a crap about. For example, recent celeb break-ups that have shocked me include Courtney Cox and David Arquette, Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman, and Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins (though I don't think they were actually married, but they were together for 20-some years, so it's basically the same thing). It sounds dumb that I would be shocked and saddened over some dumb celebs relationships breaking up, but I can't help it!
My initial reaction is honestly one of disappointment because, in the words of (my future husband) Tim Gunn they just seemed to "make it work"! I mean, what happened?! You were together for half your lives! You have kids together! Why, god, why?!
Then my initial disappointment turns (as most things in my mind do once they've percolated through my brain for a bit) to cynicism. I was thinking about it today, in fact, and the first conclusion I came to was something like, "well, celebrities have it soooo easy when it comes to divorce!". I mean, think about it: they have enough money that they can get the paperwork done practically overnight, even if their ex-spouse takes them for everything they have they still have more money than I'll probably make in my lifetime, and the kids would have been messed up anyway with that kind of upbringing so might as well get the dysfunction over with! And I feel a bit bad saying this, but part of me feels like a lot of people get divorced because it's an "easy way out", and they can avoid actually sitting face to face and DEALING with their problems.
This really got a train of thought going, though - are break-ups really easier for celebrities than for regular Joe's like you and me? There is definitely a voice inside that screams out "yes" mainly due to the compelling financial argument (I don't care what anyone says, having a lot of money makes a lot of things easier). And given their hectic, ego-driven lives, it seems likely they would rather get their hair highlighted and go tanning than talk and work through adult issues.
However, (at the risk of going all Dr. Phil-osophical on you) say what you will about celebrities but they are still human (well most of them). They still have feelings, fears, insecurities, and emotional baggage. They can still have their hearts broken. Trust me, I'm normally the LAST person to ever sympathize with a celebrity or defend them, but I can't help but feel sorry for some of them sometimes (obviously excluding those sociopaths that get married and divorced merely for publicity), especially when I picture me dealing with the pain and upheaval of my parents' divorce completely in the public eye.
No, thank you.
The fact is, divorce sucks no matter who you are. Chances are having the money to hire the best lawyer in the country probably wouldn't have helped my mom make my dad pay child support and other money he legally owed her. Chances are it wouldn't have saved her years of in-an-out court battles. Chances are my dad would have still drank his life away even if he was a celebrity, and frankly he probably would have done it faster. Chances are I would still have the "issues" with men that have roots in the absence of a male role model in my life, the only difference being I might have just partied them away until I burned out.
Then again, with a bank account similar to Christina Aguilera's my mom could have hired a hitman to take out the trash then escape to a life of anonymity a remote South Pacific island and been done with it.
That would have been a nice advantage.
*I KNEW there had to be a song about divorce!! And a country song - shocker!! See, there's always a silver lining with me*
3 comments:
First of all - any marriage of Tim Gunn's must first go through me. Second, I didn't know any of those couples had broken up. Third, I am the same way when I hear people have broken up. Even if they're celebrities and we're supposed to hate them. I think the divorce rate is much higher amongst celebrities. I agree, I don't think that necessarily means it easier on them. In some ways it must be harder, having everything dragged out in the public eye. At least when normal people get divorced they don't have to worry about it ruining their career. Bottom line, the ending of any relationship is sad. It makes me feel heartbroken for them, even if I don't know the person. And of course, it makes those of us who are in relationships wonder if their number will be up soon, as if it is a contagious disease or something.
Is Tim Gunn not the sweetest?! We may have a fight on our hands because I would not be willing to give up the love of my life so easily. All good points! Never thought about the last thing you said but so true! I'm not attached but it just makes us wonder "why bother" and such things bc you think it's just going to end anyway. Pessimistic, but that's just where your mind goes.
First of all - any marriage of Tim Gunn's must first go through me. Second, I didn't know any of those couples had broken up. Third, I am the same way when I hear people have broken up. Even if they're celebrities and we're supposed to hate them. I think the divorce rate is much higher amongst celebrities. I agree, I don't think that necessarily means it easier on them. In some ways it must be harder, having everything dragged out in the public eye. At least when normal people get divorced they don't have to worry about it ruining their career. Bottom line, the ending of any relationship is sad. It makes me feel heartbroken for them, even if I don't know the person. And of course, it makes those of us who are in relationships wonder if their number will be up soon, as if it is a contagious disease or something.
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