Mediate Michigan

Watching the finale of Mad Men and seeing Betty once again seething with rage I couldn’t help but hope that she would let go of her anger at Don already. She was trying, though, to be happy for him. You could tell because of her visible pain at finding out he was getting married again — and yet she didn’t explode, for once. She had taken that little step, perhaps the hardest one to take. Betty had a lot of excuses: she was stunted, trapped in the early sixties. Marriage, in her generation, was the be all and end all for women, and a divorce the ultimate failure. Not to mention the fact that she had to endure Don’s constant womanizing. Who wouldn’t be seething with rage?

We are 50 years ahead of Bets, and yet, there we are, having a hard time letting go of the anger. But when half of marriages end up in divorce, and we still have quite a bit of life ahead of us, we need to realize that divorce is not the end — especially if we have kids. It’s only the beginning … of the post-divorce relationship with your ex.

via Catherine Texier: The Post-Divorce Relationship.