Multiple Marriages: Badge of Shame or Life Well Lived?

I’ve been married and divorced three times, which makes me one of those people the Wall Street Journal describes, delicately, as having “a complex marital biography.” For most of my life, this has been a source of shame. But lately I’ve begun wondering if I’m really the one with the problem.

I’m certainly not alone. Among people ages 50 and older, the divorce rate has doubled over the past 20 years, according to sociologists Susan Brown and I-Fen Lin of Bowling Green State University. Further, having been married previously doubles the risk of divorce for those ages 50 to 64, while for those ages 65 and up, the risk factor quadruples.

The most obvious reason is that people are living longer. My three marriages took place over a 30-year period and produced three children — not exactly a night in Vegas. My mother, also on marriage number three, followed an early divorce with a successful 30-year marriage to husband number two. Several years after his death, she tied the knot with a fellow retiree — again, not what I would call party-girl behavior.

Read More : The Huffington Post