Most of us would throw our hands up and agree that love can happen at any age. Getting married is quite naturally the next step of a relationship in many cultures, though there are scores of happy families that exist without any such ceremonies. As separation rates are shooting up, people are opening up to possibilities of remarriages or gray marriages. This is finding a partner and marrying post-50.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently donned the groom suit to marry political activist Carrie Symonds. Boris is 56 while Carrie is 33. Despite the obvious age gap, the couple has gotten into wedlock barefoot, quite literally where Carrie wore no shoes. This is the Prime minister’s third marriage and Carrie’s first.
Boris also had a “gray divorce” where couples who have been married for a long end up getting divorced for various reasons. Few have lost the spark and connection over time while many have realized the marriage is simply not working out in the beginning itself but merely stuck around for children. We are in a time where divorces are no longer a stigma. It is better to divorce than suffer an unhappy marriage.
According to the National Healthy Marriage Center, 12% of men and 13% of women have married at least twice in the US. Divorces have a higher chance of ending in remarriage than widows. Statistics show that grey marriages have a higher probability of ending up in a divorce. Mainly because when people marry at a younger age, there is still time to mold themselves and fit into each other’s lives. This probability closes after middle age when people find it hard to shift their lifestyle and accommodate a new person into their lives. Children of emotional baggage from past marriages can come in their way as well. However, love is love and judgments must be kept at bay.