The Book on Divorce Over 50

We know there’s such thing as Gray Divorce (the mainstream term for Divorce Over 50) because we’re living it. And the media has caught on, paying it a bit of attention. But did you know there’s a whole book about it?

by Barry Gold
Posted on
Di-Curious

When we were kids, it seemed like there was a shame about getting Divorced. Those going through it felt like failures, and were the objects of sympathy or pity. If the neighbors’ split was discussed at your family dinner table, it was in hushed, sad tones (though your parents probably gossiped about it giddily when they were alone).

Today, Divorce has become so common — particularly in our Over 50 demographic — we almost greet the news with a “So what else is new?” attitude. But is it possible for divorcing people to not only avoid feeling shame, but to actually celebrate their divorce?

All of us Over 50’s are all too aware of the changes that occur to our bodies as we age. More pounds, less hair, crinkly eyes, creaky knees. And, oh yeah, those changes to our sex organs and their performance.

What in the world could a grandmother teach any of us about online dating? Well, if that grandma is London based journalist Monica Porter, quite a lot.

Back in “the good old days,” retirement happened at 65, the company gave you a gold watch and a lifetime pension, and you led a life of leisure as you ran out the clock in Florida or Palm Springs. Today, most of the Over 50’s who stop working before 65 will do so involuntarily, many of those who have a choice will work past that age, and the notion of a guaranteed company pension is about as common as a pay telephone. Making a bad situation worse, a whole host of other retirement assumptions are proving to no longer be valid.

Guys, do you find that you’ve got no game when on a first date or trying to approach a woman in a social setting? No? Not you — you’re great at it? Really? Oh, but you do have a friend who could use some guidance. Of course…

Being Divorced Over 50, we’ve had to let go of plenty of things from our lives. For one, the expectation of living out our days with our spouse and keeping our family intact. For many of us, no matter how badly we wanted out of our marriage, that was difficult. It was painful. It hurt.

But are there things in our lives that we should actively try to let go? And by doing so, can that help make us happier?

So you’ve met somebody fabulous, and things are going great. It’s only natural you’d want to avoid saying anything that might create an issue or make you less appealing. But did you ever consider that not being fully honest could actually do more harm than good?

Being Over 50 means we don’t have to worry about Sexually Transmitted Diseases, right? So there’s really no reason to practice safe sex, right? Wrong and wrong!

Getting a Divorce Over 50 creates any number of worries: you worry about how it will affect your children, what it’ll do to friendships, the hit your financial future will take. And you worry about whether you’ll ever find someone to love again. As it turns out, that Divorce Over 50 may allow you to find the greatest love of your life.