“OH, I’M SO SORRY!”
How not to respond to a divorce announcement.
I was at a party with some old friends the other
evening. One of the guests
announced she was getting divorced.
A couple of people in the group said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” “Don’t be sorry,” the woman said with a
smile. “I actually feel a lot
better now that it’s all over.”
It got me thinking about whether saying you’re sorry is an
appropriate response when someone says they’re getting divorced. Or is it one of those reflexive
comments that belongs to times past when divorce was whispered about and
carried with it a sense of shame and failure. Today we’re much more enlightened, knowing that divorce is sometimes
the best way to move forward.
People are no longer shackled in dead or miserable marriages like they
used to be. It’s now okay to divorce. And it’s okay to mark the occasion with
a Divorce Party, an occasion that is now firmly embedded in our culture. Divorce Parties celebrate the end of a
difficult unhappy time. And they celebrate
the beginning of a whole new chapter of life. Party guests show love and support openly and without
shame. The old “I’m sorry”
comments are thankfully gone forever.