When talk turns to the graying of America it is common to hear terms like Baby Boomers and the Sandwich Generation. Now we can add “gray divorce.” What is a gray divorce you might ask? It is the increase in divorces among couples age 50 or older.
Along with the emotional aspects of ending a relationship that may have lasted two or more decades, there is also the financial aspect. (more…)
D-I-V-O-R-C-E: When Your Life Becomes a Country Song
Tammy Wynette’s classic D-I-V-O-R-C-E ballad was released in 1968, and captured a moment in American culture when the fault-lines in the institution of marriage became part of the national conversation. It was a seminal song that it many ways defined the heartache of divorce.
That song was also part of the soundtrack of my own life when my parents divorced in 1972. It was like I woke up and found myself in the middle of a country song. And just like little J-O-E in the ballad, I was “going away” too. We moved across the country from Vermont to Texas, and my sister and I joined the ranks of latch key kids who were the true emotional pioneers in the land of divorce. (more…)
