Larry King is divorcing his eighth wife, adding to a matrimonial turnover that has already surpassed those of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth Taylor. In addition, King also married and broke up with the same wife twice.
I was musing about this in the newsroom yesterday, wondering how some people can end up in eight marriages and still not get a clue about how to build a lasting relationship. A co-worker hinted I was being too idealistic: "It's because she's got a hot body," she said.
Unfortunately, she may be right. I wonder if Larry King even paid attention to the vows the last seven times he went through them. It wouldn't surprise me if the master of ceremonies stifled a laugh when he got to the "till death do you part" stanza. The pledge was a legal incantation recited for display purposes.
I wonder if we need a three-strikes law for marriages -- three divorces and you don't get another license. We have a movement to ban same-sex unions in the name of protecting the sanctity of marriage. Why not do something to control the number of divorces, if we feel a legal solution is necessary to protect that sanctity?
I have a friend who tells me part of the problem is that we're living longer and tiring of each other. For me, that's a reason to seek counseling, not a divorce.
1 comment:
I'm not sure if I was the friend you were referring to. I agree, though, modern longevity is the leading cause of divorce. But not because people merely tire of each other. It's because the not mean one cannot (and should not) face the extra 30-odd years of the life sentence chained to the mean one. Marriage counseling is good when both people want to save the marriage. When the mean one wants to stay mean, there is, frankly, no saving it. Marriage takes two unselfish people. If one or both is selfish, this is a spiritual issue, and without a conversion of the mean one(s), it's doomed. That society is running a 50% marriage success rate, rather than 25%, is a miracle in itself.
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