The Day Your Ex Remarries Is REALLY PAINFUL.
The only thing worst than hearing your ex is remarrying from a third party is actually hearing the news from your ex. Obviously a no-win situation. No
matter how glad you are that your ex is your ex, you'd never take him/her
back and you're thankful you're divorced, it's still a painful time. It's
that last nail in the coffin of what was once your marriage— and your hopes
and your dreams. If you know anyone whose ex is getting remarried, don't let
them spend that day alone. And if you know your ex is getting remarried,
don't spend it by yourself— unless you really enjoy digging a dark hole and
crawling into it. (Obviously the kids will be attending the wedding and
unsure of how to be of comfort to or deal with the other parent.)
After All This, Know That There Is Still Such a Thing As A GOOD DIVORCE
Yes, you read that line correctly. Now this is not to be confused with
divorce is good, but there are ways of turning this lemon into lemonade. Read
up on how to do it. There are lots of /books to help you— even I've written
one. Making peace with life's changes is good for you, for your kids and for
your life. Divorce is not the path to be recommended easily, but it's not a
terminal illness or a contagious disease either.
I did not come up with the term "good divorce." I'll credit that to Constance
Ahrons, author of the book, The Good Divorce. "A good divorce," she says, "is
not an oxymoron. Astonishingly, in my studies, I found half the divorcing
couples we interviewed had civilized— and many amicable— relations with each
other. Another surprise was that almost everybody wished to be on better
terms with his or her ex— even the ones who had bad relationships. I'm tired
of the doomsday reports and the label of the `broken home.' We have been so
inundated with negative stories of divorce that men and women need to hear
the message that they can make their families work better, minimize stress
and not feel like total failures. In a good divorce, a family with children
remains a family— one that is sufficiently cooperative to permit kinship
bonds to continue. Perhaps if we begin to revise our expectations of what
divorce means, all parents who divorce can do so with civility and respect."
Vicki Lansky
Columnist and author
www.practicalparenting.com