Married Couples From Around The World Explain Why They Separated After 20 Years
Imagine a world where divorce didn't exist. Does the idea make you cringe, or rejoice? Depending on your answer, it might be time to reevaluate your marriage.
The divorce rate in North America is between 40% and 50%, which means that nearly half of all marriages end before death do us part.
But some couple try to stick with it no matter what. Wonder why? So did we, so we asked couples from around the world to let us in on why they divorced after twenty years of being together.
Photo by Nathan Engel from Pexels
41. You are the only exception.
Didn’t get divorced but started the process after about 25 years. Stuck it out for a few more years for the kids and ended up falling in love with her after the kids moved out.
Relationships follow cycles, so glad I stuck it out.
Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay
40. One side has moved on.
About to start the process myself. 19 years married, together 21. Now that the kids are older, self-sufficient, 2 of the 3 are driving, don't need their hands held for every little thing it will be a lot easier on them.
It's all I can do to get 5 minutes of her attention in a day. She has her head down in her kik chat app from the moment she gets up and back home and goes to bed.
She's been meeting guys ("Just friends I swear") from Kik 'for lunch' and getting a lot of massages with her therapist at weird hours of the evening.
Of course she's cheating although she swears she isn't. She turns her iphone location services off most of the time she is out.
6 months ago she started getting her lashes done, brows, tans, goes to the gym, walks for exercise, massages 3-4 times a month.
She gets annoyed when I text her asking what she's doing or when she will be home or if she will be home for dinner.
So, after all this time it's clear she doesn't want time or anything else from me, so might as well let her go do her thing.
39. What a nice story.
A friend of mine was married for nearly thirty years two kids. As she put it they’d been “playing divorce chicken for a decade”
there weren’t any concrete reasons to get divorced they didn’t fight they actually got along very well. They just weren’t in love any more.
There was always a good pragmatic reason for them to stick together, they co-parented effectively, they actually liked each other, they kept saying their marriage was probably better than a lot of people’s.
A few years ago they just decided it was time, they went out for drinks and started hashing out how to divide their assets, they agreed on a fifty-fifty split.
They got a lawyer to make everything legit and a few months later they got divorced. My friend’s ex-husband rented a house a few blocks away so they kids could easily walk between mom’s and dad’s house.
About six months after the divorce was finalized my friend’s ex-husband set her up with a new boyfriend.
They go on double dates, they go to parent teacher conferences together.
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38. Harsh words.
My husband began surreptitiously going to strip clubs. He stole about $200 a week from various accounts and a business I owned to fund these activities.
He lost is job because he went there so often at lunch and would just stay. We had young kids and so I stayed after he got some therapy.
He was never honest with the therapist. About a year ago I learned he was doing it again. Plus texting strippers.
My youngest kid graduates high school this year.
I’ve done what’s best for everyone else for 20 years now. This September was 21 years. I don’t anticipate having a 22nd anniversary.
It’s really scary to think of being alone. I don’t hate him. I feel sorry for him. I know he will feel very sad and lonely when I’m gone.
But being near him feels like having my soul ripped from my body every day.
Image by Aliko Sunawang from Pixabay