I’m sure by now every one has heard of Al & Tipper Gore’s separation. The former vice president and his wife have publicly said,
“This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration,”
While divorce or separation of couples after 40 year of marriage is rare (in fact less than 1% of couples divorce after 40 years), it makes us wonder why such a couple would separate? The typical responses come to mind: They are such a happy couple. They have been together for so long. They have been through so much! Remember the “Convention Kiss of 2000?”
Writing about the Gores, Ellen McCarthy at the Washington Post said it well:
They’re like the couple down the block with the lush garden and the annual Labor Day cookout. The pair who are always power walking together and drinking wine on the front porch, who make you nudge your husband and say, “See? I want that.”
However, I was absolutely shocked at what I read next in McCarthy’s article:
