Beneath the illusion

This is an old post from the other site. I was thinking of all the divorced guys at work and how they appeared to have survived without much trouble, but I knew that we all have so much more under that carefully maintained surface.

I hardly remember seeing a good marriage while growing up. The grey facade of my parent's union and the ever rising divorce rate made me feel that marriage was a big sham foisted upon the populace by some invisible group with a cruel sense of humor. I want to blame my fellow Baptists. Why not? You go to church, the preacher tells you God made man, woman, and the institution of marriage, and God saw that 'it was good', but how can an omniscient being create something that only works fifty percent of the time? I know, it has nothing to do with God, it is us.

I watch guys at work get divorced and find 'true love' again and it's always a co-worker and it always seems to work. It's like they're in a club. The second wife club. I know divorce is no picnic, I've nearly been there, but they make it look worth while. They crawl out of the marital battle field blackened and tattered. A nurse comes to the bedside and wipes the blood off. Their eyes meet and it's true love. Once more into the breech dear lovers! I know my perceptions are an illusion and my co-workers wished they hadn't gone through what they did and, being typical men, they'll never reveal the pain or the regrets. It's funny how things seem from a distance.