WHY DIVORCE? That’s the question I started asking myself in November 2005 when I had the first inkling that I wasn’t happy in my then 10-year-old marriage. I pushed the thought aside to focus on my kids, who were 6 and 10 at the time. We were, and continue to be, in love with each other. And a line by French moralist Joseph Joubert kept running through my mind: “Never cut what you can untie.” I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I did want to be happy — happier than I was at the time.
Like many parents, I pushed my feelings aside. Instead, I spent the decade that followed talking with dozens of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances about their marriages — asking those unhappily married what it was that enabled them to file for divorce or what kept them from it. Couples who were happily married intrigued me even more. I wanted to know their secrets! And I wanted to share them with others.
Those conversations inspired me to create a trilogy: Why Divorce: 5 Reasons to Leave • Why Marry: 5 Reasons to Say Yes • Why Remarry: 5 Reasons to Do It Again