Have You Seen A Star in The East?

You would think that after 50 years of marriage, you could be pretty secure in the

notion that this one would last. One of the first divorces I had was for a man who had been married for that long.

He told me that his wife and daughter were both against him, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He moved out of the house they had shared since their wedding day into an apartment uptown. He said he was much happier to be on his own.

I did his petition. It was obvious from talking to him that marriage counseling wasn’t

in the cards. In fact, I got the impression that kissing a rattle snake had more

appeal than spending another hour with his lovely bride.

She could have the house and her car. He would take his car, and they would split his pension. In fact, she could have had the clothes off his back if it meant he’d never have to see or hear from her again.

My own parents had been married in the same year as these people, which made their

separation even sadder to me. I asked him the usual questions. When were you married? When did you separate? He laughed when I asked if his children were emancipated. “Not only are they all on their own, but they are older then you.”

He left my office, and I filed his petition. Since they had everything worked out,

I figured I wouldn’t hear from him again until the 60 days was up. I didn’t, but