Marriage is supposed to last a lifetime, for better or for worse, but these days, when things get tough, people break up. The sad thing is that it’s the innocent children who really suffer when parents don’t get over their problems. I was reading today a very sweet story about a couple that divorced 48 years ago after 20 years of marriage and are now remarrying. It’s a great feel-good story. That is, until you read it a little more carefully.

It was heartbreaking to me to read quotes like this one:

“I’m as excited as some 9-year-old whose parents are getting back together,” Funderbirk said, “and I’m 65 years old.”

The other children reacted the same way. That’s right, 48 long years later, the children of the marriage were still emotionally invested in it; still heartbroken their parents broke up and now delighted they were finally getting back together. Forty-eight years those children hurt. And, why? What tragic circumstances led to that home breaking up? We just don’t know, but we do know that the couple hasn’t seen each other since 1996 and that’s the only time since the divorce. They just decided to get over it, evidently. It’s sad they didn’t decide that in 1964.

Please understand, I am not coming down on this couple, they are finally doing the right thing, but I want all of us married folk to stop and think. When we are angry at our mates, when we want to walk out, who are we thinking about? Are we thinking about the children who’ll bear that burden for 48 years or more? Are we thinking about the mate we promised to love ’til death do us part? Or are we just thinking about ourselves? It’s worth thinking about.

I’m so glad this couple’s children lived long enough to see their parents reunite. Let’s make sure the children we know and love never have to go through that at all!

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