A couple of weeks ago, it was revealed that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper were getting a divorce. They met during his senior year of high school, got married 5 years later, and had just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in May. They have 4 adult children, and 3 grandchildren.
So far, both claim that this is “a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration.” Friends said that there were no scandals or affairs involved, that they just “grew apart.” Really? That’s it?!?
Since then, there has been a rumor of Al cheating, which he denies, but I almost hope it’s true. I mean, @ least then it would make sense. Otherwise, why the heck would you get divorced after 40 years?!? 40 YEARS!
I mean, I’m no hopeless romantic or anything, I know that sometimes divorce is the best option for a couple but, dang, if that can’t stick together after 40 years, what chance does anyone else have? It’s actually kind of depressing to think about.
So far, this year, 3 of my married friends on Facebook have announced that they’re getting divorced, but I don’t think any of them have even passed the 10 year mark yet. So, while tragic, @ least it’s a little more understandable. If a marriage is not working, it’s probably best to separate, hopefully on good terms if there are children involved, and try to move on. But after 40 years you’d think they’ve already been through every marital crisis that you can imagine. So why get divorced?
First, how do you let yourself “grow apart” after that long? Sure, I know people change as they get older, but how much changing could they have done in the last few years that led to this? They’re rich. Can’t they go on a world cruise or something, and try to rekindle the old flame?
And even if that doesn’t work, still, I’d say, let’s just stay together anyway. He’s 62, she’s 61, do they really want to start over now? Especially since they say that nothing bad has happened? Fine, so they maybe they don’t get butterflies in their stomachs when they see each other anymore, and they’re not having wild passionate hot sweaty sex now (though it’s hard to imagine that Al Gore ever did have wild passionate hot sweaty sex with anyone), but if they really still like each other, then they should just stay together out of habit.
What’s the harm? They got a huge mansion. One of them can take the first two floors, the other can take the two top floors. They came and go as they please, meet each other for breakfast and dinner if they feel like it. And whenever they have a public event to go to, they can hold hands and pretend everything’s normal. Who would know the difference? They’ll basically be roommates. Heck, isn’t that how all long-term marriages end up anyway? 10 years from now, they’ll probably be too broken down to do much anyway, so might as well just stick it out, for old times sake.
iBLOGalot 
I would have expected Bill and Hillary to get divorced way before them.
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I know, right?
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Doesn’t a divorce waste resources?
Stay green Gore!
I kid I kid, it sucks but people drift apart, you’d think after 40 years though they’d just wait it out until one of them croaks.
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That’s what I’m saying. 10 years, 15 tops. Then one of them will either be dead, or too old to do anything but sit in a rocking chair all day. Might as well just chill until then. Why go all the trouble of getting divorced, having to divide assets, get new homes, then you have to have different times to visit kids, etc.?
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I have always respected both Al and Tipper. I hope the Gores will both find the happiness they deserve in this new chapter in their lives.
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Naw, I’m not buying the mutual breakup excuse. Not after this long. SOMEBODY did SOMETHING wrong. We just gotta wait for the National Enquirer to break the story, like they did with John Edwards.
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The thing is nobody really knows whats going on in a marriage, except for the couple. They could have been living basically as roommates like you suggested for the past 10 years, and only just now got tired of it. Who knows?
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it depends on how you look at it. sure you could say that they should just stay together anyway, since its been so long and they may not have that much time left. but you could also thats exactly why they should split up now, since you only live once, and shouldn’t waste a single minute of it.
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I bet this breakup wasn’t really mutual. Anytime I’ve seen a couple that says they had a mutual breakup it mean that one person really wanted out, and the other person just accepted it because they knew they couldn’t fix it. I’d bet that this was mostly Al’s idea. Even though he’s old, it will still be easier for him to get a new woman because he’s Al Gore. It will be harder for Tipper to get back into the dating game as a 61 year old woman.
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Al Gore won’t have trouble getting chicks at all. He’s like a rock star among all the young hippie liberal environmentalists. I can see him pulling up to some hottie at a Green Party rally and be like:
“Yo, baby, wanna come back to my place and discuss global warming?”
Bet it works every time.
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That’s…not an image that I want in my head.
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Don’t hate the playa.
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Unless you are in the marriage with them, you can’t assume anything. There are so many reasons why people divorce, even after 40 years of marriage. Sometimes you lose that spark and nothing brings it back. Yes often times people do change a lot and not just a little. Jobs change and make you change, make you realize maybe you want something different in life. Just because they are in their 60’s doesn’t mean life is over and they shouldn’t be happy. However, too often people jump into marriage and just as easily jump out when things go wrong. So they get divorce, cheating or not, they have their reasons I’m sure. Very few people can stand to be together for 40 years!! Stresses of life often get in the way…or sometimes stupid little things….
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Yeah, man, your acting like they’re already dead. 62 ain’t THAT old!
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I’m exaggerating a little, for comedic effect. But my main point is that the “we just grew apart” explanation for the end of a 40 year marriage is odd to me. After that long, my wife would have to REALLY piss me off to get me to leave here. I’m talking, I’d have to walk in on her having sex with the local high school football team, while smoking crack, and after tattooing a swastika on her left butt-cheek.
And EVEN THEN, I might be tempted to suggest marriage counseling before we split up. It would just be really touch to give on a relationship that lasted that long, especially if it’s just because we’re not quite as close as we used to be.
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WOW!! looks like you love your wife!! haha Usually you just have to breathe funny and boom it’s over!
Trust me until it’s happened you can’t understand the “we just grew apart” stuff.
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I can see it. I agree that at 60, you should probably take a hard look at options…chances are you will remain alone forever…and getting married in your early 20’s is crazy too…but I can definitely see this happening. My parents went nuts after all of us moved out, and it took years for them to rediscover each other. I’m glad they did, but can see how some people would see that it’s too much work.
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I married at 19, my husband was 18 and after 10 years we’re still married. I surely don’t think at 60 you will be alone forever, people find love at all ages.
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I agree, 60’s not the end of the world. You can still find love, but it will be a bit more difficult.
Although, again, in their case, being extremely rich is an advantage.
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I saw another blog about this topic, don’t remember the link, which brought up the point about kids. Saying that one of the biggest obstacles to long marriages is the “empty nest” stage, when the kids have all grown and moved on. Suddenly, these people who have been mommy and daddy all of these years now have to get used to just being people again, and now they might not have as much in common without the kids to tie them together. And that’s what makes this divorce puzzling because Al & Tipper already passed that stage, the kids are grown, they even have grandkids.
And I supposed that’s JR’s ultimate point is that you would think that after this long they would have already experienced every problem you could experience in a marriage, and worked through it. So it’s surprising that they’re splitting now.
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I wonder what kind of settlement Tipper is getting? Married this long, you know there was no prenup. And I’m sure Al made millions off that documentary he mad. Now she’ll be getting half. But at least the kids are all grown, so he won’t have to worry about paying any child support.
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I’m sure that, however the assets are divided, neither one is going to be clipping coupons anytime soon.
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