The ‘gray divorce’ trend

Recently, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates announced that they are parting ways after 27 years of married life. The news created quite a fuss among the netizens and left many thinking why would a couple who have endured such long years of challenges and other circumstances in life together, decide to part ways in their older age.

After many years of marriage, partners would know both the worst and best sides of each other. How would they like their steak to be, what’s their favorite beverage in the morning, and obviously the pet peeves Many people would think that people who have been together for such a long time, raised children together, and have been through the highs and lows of life would never have any kind of incompatibility and would certainly not separate in their 50s or 60s.

Well, that’s not the case now. Over the last few years, the number of couples getting separated in their 50s and 60s has increased drastically. They deliberately decided to part ways after continuous arguments and incompatible situations that come their way.

When asked about a soon-to-be-divorced woman, she said that she views her life in chapters. She wished and thought that her current husband would be there with her through every walk of her life. But now she feels like exploring some new sides of her life and in the future, finding another partner. She also added that she has no grudges with her current husband and means him no harm. She wants to free them up from this life and let each other find their own happiness.

The reason for the sudden rise

The couples aren’t simply growing apart from each other over time. They choose to make the decision to separate in a healthy way and wish to lead the remaining life the way they want. Additionally, most of them believe that if one of the partners stays unhappy in a marriage, it affects the other person as well. So, they try to regain the lost luster of their life by deciding to separate and find their own happiness once again.

In the last few years, more and more couples have been regularly visiting therapists and expressing their grief over the unhappy marriage they are living in. It starts with one expressing their dissatisfaction and eventually coming to a conclusion together. Couples are becoming more open to each other, thereby deciding whether they want to continue in their relationship and work their ways to be happy once again, or part for good.

Even though there are taboos of long-lasting marriages and adjustments to be made, people are starting to value their happiness and satisfaction over those. Many use the therapy sessions to break the barrier and move on in a healthy manner. In any case, an attorney may be something you are seeking in the process also. Portland divorce attorney, Jill Brittle outlines good reasons and info on divorce in her guide e-book.

Conclusions

Some people tend to part ways to reinvent themselves and build a career or path of their own after raising their kids. They want to start afresh with their life by embarking on new journeys, following the career of their dreams, and sometimes find themselves a more understanding partner. They feel that their marriage has become hostile and no longer instills the same joy as before.

Many see this trend to be unhealthy, but only the person in the marriage knows how suffocating it is to crush their dreams and lead a life set out by others. Well, the reason why people over 50s decide to part ways with their partner seems healthy is that many of them want to find their true selves and lead the life they have always dreamed about.