Why Get Divorced After Forty Years of Marriage?

This is slightly off my usual topics, but I need to rant!  Ever since the announcement of Tipper and Al Gore’s divorce, talk show hosts and other members of the media have asked this question.  They might as well say, “what’s the point of getting a divorce, you’re almost dead anyway.”  I could list a hundred reasons, but I’ll try to limit myself to just a few.  First of all, the institution of marriage pre-dates reliable recorded history, and whenever that was, the average life expectancy of a human being was probably about 23 — certainly not  80!  Surprise, over a period of 40 years people change (or at least some of us do.)  There doesn’t have to be a big trigger event like an affair to cause a long-time married couple to realize they’ve developed different interests, or the wife is tired of going everywhere on her own, or the husband can’t stand another day of nagging about his leaving his dirty underwear on the floor. The bottom line is that we are all living longer, and life is too short to stay married just because it’s expected.  Or because you’re almost dead anyway!