An Affair to Remember

It's an old story. During Christmas a husband is rifling through some old papers in a drawer and finds a love letter written by his wife to another man. He angrily confronts her and she confesses and says it was a long time ago. She begs him not to divorce her considering their marriage and children. But he can't get over the betrayal, and the fact that she kept the letter. He files for divorce anyway vowing not to reach his next birthday still married to his unfaithful wife.

The kicker is the man 99 years old, they have been married for 77 years, they have a great grandchild and the affair was in the 1940's.

What does it take to be happy? Heidi Klum and Seal, after 6 years of seeming blissful marriage, a great house, children, good looks, and incredible careers may now divorce.

Quote: pacomartin

Heidi Klum and Seal ...

Who and who?

Quote: FleaStiff

Who and who?

Fashion model and blues singer (see photo).

Quote: FleaStiff

Who and who?

Heidi Klum is a model, best known for hosting Project Runway. Seal was the guy best known for singing the song "Kiss from a Rose."

Compare those to Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom-Kardashian. Khloe was known for being the sister of Kim Kardashian, while LOK was known for being the teammate of Kobe Bryant.

Or even Kim Kardashian and Kris Humpries (who separated after 72 days and a lavish televised wedding and a season on E!). Kim was known for making a sex tape, while nobody outside of NBA fans even heard of Kris Humphries. At least when she dated Reggie Bush he had the Heismann... at the time.

So to answer your question, FleaStiff, they are two random people that some people find "fascinating."

Quote: pacomartin

What does it take to be happy? Heidi Klum and Seal, after 6 years of seeming blissful marriage, a great house, children, good looks, and incredible careers may now divorce.

My experience is some people think they get to "be happy all of the time" after they marry and when they do not they get upset. One guy I knew proposed to a gril he was dating a very short time, and it was very unexpected. To this day and I will die still saying it, I say he proposed because 2-3 of his buddies proposed to their then GFs and they were all in their late 20s so "it was time." She took what she probably saw as a good offer. Two or so years later he came home from work unexectedly (how does this always happen?) to find her and her mother cleaning out the furniture and anything else of value. Oh, and don't bother calling the cops on that--you can't steal what belongs to you!

Other divorce for dubious reasons. "We were stagnating." "He was married to his job." Whatever. No-Fault Divorce makes getting unhitched too easy IMHO. People figure they should be happy day in and day out but life is not like that.

Then again, "marrige" has changed over the years, especially since say 1946. Way back, marrige was required to actually survive. A big family meant group survival. Being a single male meant you would end up a drifter, being a single woman meant you became a prostitute. Even in the Donnor Party, families survived, single men ended up dead. It took a family to run a farm. Kids were free labor. Still are on family farms where everyone has to pitch in. In the city, when you worked for near slave wages husband and wife working meant two incomes. The kids could be sent to work and their wages taken to support the family.

After the early 1920s kids work was more limited, perhaps at the family store or they had a shinebox, sold newspapers, etc. Women could stgart to stay home. WWII disrupted this, but when Johnny came marching home he wanted the wife, kids, and the peaceful life. Over 95% of people were married by the 1950s! Families were big and stayed together-often for the kids if hubby and wife were less than happy.

By the 1960s people had less kids because kids are, well, very expensive. Kids worked less and less and their money was their own and as time went on people had kids because they wanted and enjoyed raising them, not because it "happened." As time went on they planned more and more as they realized the expense of raising kids.

By the 1970s we had the "single mother" thing becoming acceptable and by the 1980s more and more women decided, "I don't need a man I just want a child." (though in some cases they were happy to take a hunk of the man's paycheck to raise the kid, but I digress.) Today we are at the point where if a woman at the office talks about her kid in passing a guy won't even ask about her husband until she mentions a husband.

So "what does it take to be happy?" It takes people who want to be married for the pleasure and companionship of being married. My guress is it takes another generation for society to accept marrige is no longer what it was back then. We may know it is different, but acceptance is another matter.

Quote: AZDuffman

So "what does it take to be happy?"

Love of one's self. Manage that and all else will fall into place.

Quote: AZDuffman

Then again, "marriage" has changed over the years, especially since say 1946.

But you are talking about ordinary people struggling to pay their fuel bills. She cleared a $1.5 million a month last year, and he makes just as much. They can afford all the nannies and help they need. They are also known as an incredibly affectionate couple with three children in six years.